Stripped Past
by Night's Darkness
Summary: The Rift opened up and stole four of the Torchwood team, sending them into another time. Or did it? There's something about this world that Jack doesn't trust and he is determined to figure it out. Not even the team-mate left behind can stop him.
1. Chapter 1

As if I needed another story on the run. And yet here I am. This one is sorta ties into my 'Missing Something' series, but it's not necessary to have read that first, as everything relevant will be in this one.

Anyone reading Salvation's Tears, keep an eye out for a few new/familiar faces the two worlds share! :D

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Stripped Past<strong>

**Chapter 1**

It had started as a relatively dull day.

The Rift was quiet, the Weevils were apparently on a break, and all of Jack's paperwork was done, somehow. Even Owen had no back-log of autopsies to do and so the team was enjoying a game of basketball. Ianto was refereeing, not because he couldn't play, but rather he would wipe the floor with all of them on his own and that was no fun. Ianto didn't look it, but he was quite the sportsman.

"Jack no!"

"Aw but Ianto-"

"I said no! You can't grope to throw the opposition off. I'll give Owen and Toshiko a penalty if you do it again."

Jack pouted for a moment as Owen smirked and tossed the ball to Toshiko who threw it up into the basket. Ianto blew his whistle and marked down the point. No one bothered to ask where the whistle had come from.

As they set up for the next round, Jack's phone started ringing.

"Damn! Time out!" called Jack as he bounded away into his office and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Jack m'boy!"

"Archie! How are you?"

"No complaints."

"For once." a voice chimed in from the distance. Archie grunted at the voice and continued,

"So, Jack, I was thinking it was about time we did some of that bureaucratic crap we've both put off."

"Meaning you've been nagged into it by your second in command." said Jack with a smirk.

There was a moment of silence, during which Jack could easily imagine the head of Torchwood Two glancing at his second and then there was a resigned, "Aye…"

Jack laughed, "Well I guess it is time. When were you thinking?"

"We could travel down today and start tomorrow, from what we can see the Rift is quiet."

"Sounds fine. I'll have Ianto find you a hotel."

"No need, Micka's already on it."

Jack glanced out of his office and found Ianto was on the phone with Michaela. "Naturally. Wouldn't do for those two to not be six steps ahead of their bosses."

"Indeed." Archie snorted. "Well, we'll see you tonight Jack."

"Sounds good."

Jack hung up and walked out of the office as Ianto bid Michaela goodbye and looked up.

"So, we're getting a visit from Two." he said to the team in general.

"Oh?" asked Gwen, widening her eyes.

"Yup." Ianto said, moving to a computer to look up hotels. "Archie and Michaela and Dubhtach will be here tonight."

"Who's Dubhtach? What kinda name's that?" snorted Owen.

"Dubhtach is a dog." said Jack.

"Correction, Dubhtach is a genius wolfhound who has managed to beat me at basketball." said Ianto easily as he tapped keys. The other four all looked at him in utter bafflement. "She got the upper hand on me when she went between my legs and caught me with her tail."

"Anyway, they'll be staying for a few days at least, so we'll make them feel welcome."

The team nodded.

"I think I'll go arrange with St. David's personally," said Ianto, "See if I can convince them to let Dubhtach stay with Michaela. Otherwise I'll have to let her stay with me and I don't know if Bart will appreciate a giant dog that can fit him in her mouth wandering around."

Jack grinned at the idea of Ianto's tiny pet bunny being intimidated by the wolfhound. "If you do, send me pictures. About time that little bunny got what's coming to him."

Ianto rolled his eyes, "Captain Jack Harkness, defender of humanity, warrior against the scum of the universe, and the bitch of a bunny smaller than his hand."

Gwen and Toshiko giggled as Jack sputtered in protest. Ianto ignored him and left the Hub.

Ianto had been gone only half an hour when the lights in the Hub flickered, the computers all started beeping and then the four were engulfed in darkness.

An hour later Ianto returned to find the Hub empty.

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><p>Jack groaned as he awoke. His head was aching and he had a strange taste of copper and ham in his mouth.<p>

"Ugh… need to lay off the bourbon." he muttered as he sat up, looking around. He was instantly on alarm when he realised that Gwen, Toshiko and Owen were all lying on the floor of the Hub as well. And… something was drastically wrong with the Hub. Most of the monitors were gone, only two lights were on, and it looked like there was an inch of dust on every surface.

"Wha…" groaned Gwen, lifting her head, wincing as she squinted at Jack. "Jack?"

"Gwen."

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure. But something's happened to the Hub. And possibly Ianto since he would never let this much dust gather."

"Huh?" Gwen looked around and saw what he meant. "Oh my god. What's happened?"

"I don't know." Jack reached over and shook Toshiko by the shoulder, "Toshiko, wake up."

"Owen? Owen get up!" called Gwen urgently. Owen groaned as Toshiko lifted her head and blinked blearily at Jack. If he hadn't been so concerned he would have admired how adorable she looked.

"What the fuck happened?" demanded Owen as he sat up. "Feel like I went cage wrestling with a Weevil again."

Jack was barely on his feet when there was a bang and the Torchwood team found themselves surrounded by guns and torchlight. Seven people, five men and two women, dressed in civilian clothing, stared down their weapons at the four Torchwood members who automatically reached for weapons they did not have.

"Hands above your head!" snarled a tall, broad man. "Hands above your head now!"

"Who the hell are you?" demanded Jack even as he obeyed the order and raised his hands above his head.

"We'll ask the questions." snapped the man, "How did you get in here?"

"We work here." said Jack glancing around, "At least… we work here, but something's changed about it."

"What's your name?"

"Captain Jack Harkness."

If it was possible the men and women tensed up even further. The man narrowed his eyes at them,

"Really?" he drawled, "Captain Jack Harkness, eh?"

"Yes. Why? Has my reputation preceded me?"

"You could say that." The man shifted where he stood, clearly debating with himself. His eyes studied Jack's face carefully, then moved to Gwen, then Owen and then Toshiko. "Hmm…"

"Torin…" said the woman standing next to the man. She kept her gun aimed at the four as she leaned towards the man and whispered something to him. The man, Torin, frowned at her, then glanced at the team suspiciously.

"What are the odds…?" he muttered to the woman, who shrugged,

"You know our orders. We've gotta bring them in and tell Bobby."

Torin looked between the woman and the team and then nodded. "Ok. We're going to take you into custody, you will be bound and blindfolded and taken to our base. There you will be given a check up by our medical facility and questioned. If you are not a threat, you have nothing to worry about. It would be in your best interest to comply with us."

"Under whose authority?" demanded Jack as one of the women and one of the men put away their weapons and pulled out restraints.

"Torchwood's."

Jack stared at the man as Gwen swore at the woman who was pulling her into restraints. Then he glanced around the Hub and realised that it looked shut down. Then he looked back to Torin and asked slowly,

"What year is this?"

Torin glanced at the woman next to him and she gave a tiny shrug. He sighed and looked straight at Jack, meeting his eyes.

"It's 2028 Captain."

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><p>Thoughts, critiques?<p>

All is welcome!

Night's Darkness


	2. Chapter 2

Wow, I was really surprised and delighted by the enthusiastic response the first chapter got. I really hope that you all continue to enjoy this as it goes on. It may be a bit sporadic in updating, as Salvation's Tears (plus life in general) will probably take me away sometimes.

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

The declaration that it was 2028 was enough of a shock to make Gwen, Toshiko, Owen and Jack relatively compliant as they were blindfolded. They were led with care to a vehicle –a truck probably –and taken somewhere else.

Jack's mind was whirling. 2028. 20 years into the future. The Rift must have taken them, but there had been no warning.

What had changed? Clearly Torchwood was still in operation in some form, considering the usage of the name, and the access these people had to the apparently defunct Hub. Who ran it now? What kind of organisation was it?

At the forefront of Jack's mind was his worry over what had happened to Ianto. It seemed impossible that Ianto had survived this long, Torchwood lives were tragically short.

The truck stopped and they were guided out into an air conditioned corridor, moving through it. Jack could hear people talking, machines whirring and there was a smell of Weevil.

"Sorry about the smell. We've a new weevil in and she's not happy." said the woman.

Their blindfolds were removed when they came into a room, which was an infirmary cum medical lab. A young blonde woman came up to them and directed them to a bed each.

"We're just going to run some tests now."

Jack was surprised that they weren't cuffed to the beds, but then noticed their guard was watching them intently. If they sneezed wrong, the guns would be back. For the moment Jack did not see a need to be troublesome. He allowed himself to be examined by the blonde woman. Blood was drawn and as she did so, she asked him questions.

"What do you remember?"

"I remember being in the Hub in 2008, we'd just played a basketball game. Ianto, my general support, he'd gone out to see about booking rooms for Archie and Michaela and Dubhtach, then the lights flickered, and then we were in the Hub now."

"Hmm…" the woman made a note and then pulled out what looked like a scanner. "Need to make sure if you did fall through the Rift you didn't bring any bugs with you."

Jack nodded as she moved the scanner. He studied her carefully for a long moment then said quietly, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." she said with a smile. It was disarming how pleasant everyone was being to them. This was not the Torchwood from Jack's time of employment, and it wasn't even like his own set up. This was bigger, brighter and happier. Three things that did not fit with Jack's idea of the organisation.

"I was wondering if Ianto Jones still works for Torchwood. Or is he dead? What happened to him?"

The young woman hesitated, uncertainty flashing across her face, then she relaxed and said, "Don't worry. He's still around."

Jack felt himself relaxing a little. Well that's something.

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><p>After the examinations, they were brought to a kind of bunking area. It was obvious that it was used for over nighters, but it was full of warm wood, bright paintings, and a small kitchenette.<p>

"We can get you some clothing if you want to change." said the woman who had convinced Torin to give them a chance.

"No thanks, erm…"

"Elisa Donovan. But call me Dotty, Captain. Everyone else does." she said with a grin.

"Dotty?" repeated Jack weakly.

Dotty tapped her cheek, indicating her slightly larger than usual freckles.

"Ah…" said Jack feeling dazed by this silly gesture.

"Look, we'll review your test results, and your answers. And then the boss'll see you."

Jack nodded. "Ok… ok thanks."

Dotty nodded, "Get some rest, yeah?"

Jack nodded again, then Dotty shut the door. It was locked from the outside, which unsettled Jack, but he understood that they were being treated pretty damn well all things considered. He inhaled deeply and looked at the others. Gwen was blinking hard and Jack could see she was coming out of her shocked stupor. He knew the first thing out of her mouth would be-

"I need to call Rhys!"

Jack sighed and moved to stand in front of Gwen, taking hold of her hands. "Gwen."

"He'll be worried about me."

"Gwen, you've been missing to Rhys for twenty years."

"I know but, but I need to call him. He, he deserves to know that I'm-"

"Gwen, listen to me." Jack used his captain voice, which she always responded to. Gwen looked up at him, her wide green eyes begging him to make this all right. Jack hated that he would have to disappoint her. "Gwen, we are in the year 2028. It's been twenty years since Rhys last laid eyes on you. You need to absorb this information before you even think about making contact with Rhys. He may have…"

"May have…? What Jack? What might he have?" asked Gwen, voice high and loud, tinged with hysteria.

"Gwen, you need to brace yourself for the fact that Rhys has probably moved on from you. He might be married, he might-"

"No! No Jack. Take that back!" she screeched, pulling away from him. Jack held her firm, preparing to embrace her if he needed to.

"Gwen, I'm sorry, I know this is a lot but you need to calm down."

"Don't you dare! Don't you bloody dare Jack Harkness!"

"Gwen enough!" snapped Owen. "You're not helping."

"Fuck you Owen!"

The tension in the room was snapped when the lock on the door audibly turned and they looked around as Dotty and Torin came in.

"The boss'll see you now, if you're up for it."

"That was quick." said Toshiko. The only hint of the upset she was feeling was the way she was hugging herself.

"Computers are faster than they were back in your day." said Torin carefully. Jack saw Toshiko's wince. He stepped forward, placing himself in front of his team.

"Lets go." he said.

Torin and Dotty led them through a long corridor to a lift. Torin hit the button for the 16th floor. Jack wondered just what kind of building they were really in. So far all he had seen was white walls and no windows.

"Were we underground?"

"Yes. The medical facility is set up so no newcomers can see anything we don't want them to. In case of temporal damage or security risks." said Dotty as the lift moved smoothly upward. "Oh, by the way since he's too rude to do it himself, this is Torin Scully."

Torin rolled his eyes at Dotty, "You and manners."

"Bobby likes it."

"Yeah, but he's the boss. You gotta be nice to the boss."

"Bobby?" asked Owen, narrowing his eyes.

"It's what everyone calls him. Nickname, y'know?"

The lift came to a stop and they entered a bright room. It was large, with a dark wood desk drawing the eye. A man was seated at the desk and he looked up as the door opened. His lips pulled into a wide grin as he rose to his feet. Jack felt his heart stutter as they stepped into the office.

"Ianto!" cried Toshiko.

Ianto moved around his desk and went straight to them. His blue eyes moved over each of their faces carefully, studying them. Jack felt stunned as he stared at the now 44 year old man he had last seen at the age of 24 only three hours ago. He had broadened with age and muscle, and his black hair was longer, pushed back off his face, flecked with grey. His face had lost that angular sharpness of youth and bad eating habits, and there was open joy there as he settled his gaze on Jack.

"It really is you. You're back." he murmured, sounding reverent.

"We didn't realise we were gone." said Jack in a soft voice, stunned by the way Ianto seemed to have become more attractive with age.

Ianto seemed taken aback by his words. Then he laughed and threw his arms around Jack, embracing him tight. Jack held him tight, inhaling the familiar scent of Ianto's skin mingled with the unfamiliar scent of different washing powder on his shirt. Ianto pulled away, touched Jack's face with his hands, then moved to Toshiko, embracing her just as tightly.

"Watashi wa anata no bakku motte irunode shiawasedesu." he murmured to her. Toshiko let out a little whimper and clung to him as the reality of their situation hit her. Ianto passed his hand over her hair and rubbed her back. "It's ok Tosh, you're safe here." he promised.

Toshiko nodded into his shoulder and then pulled back. Ianto moved to Gwen and took her hands in his, holding them to his chest.

"Mae'n dda gweld chi, gariad."

Gwen's face crumpled into tears as she shook her head, "Rhys…"

"I know. We'll let him know you're back. I promise."

Gwen dissolved into sobs, "This can't be happening."

"I'm so sorry Gwen. I tried to find you. But you were gone." said Ianto gently. His voice had deepened but his accent was unchanged. "We'll do whatever you need to adjust."

"We have to go back!" Gwen protested.

Ianto shook his head, releasing Gwen's hands and gesturing to some couches. "Come and sit down. I'll explain what happened as best I can." His eyes locked with Jack's and Jack nodded, taking Gwen's shoulder and leading her over to the couch with an arm around Toshiko who was wiping away a few stray tears. He vaguely noticed Ianto embracing Owen in a one armed hug before Owen joined them. Ianto dismissed Dotty and Torin with a nod and then moved to sit before them. He looked so commanding and calming, in his purple shirt with rolled up sleeves and a black waistcoat with silk back.

"Ok, I'll explain what happened from my viewpoint and then we'll discuss where to go from there." he said. "Food'll be up soon by the way. And tea."

"No coffee?" asked Jack easily, keeping his arm around Gwen who was shaking her head in constant denial.

"I think you've had enough excitement, don't you think?" said Ianto wryly. It was like nothing had changed. And yet, when he smiled there were lines Jack had never seen around his eyes, the grey in his hair was visible in the sunlight filling the room that was changing to pink as the sun started to set. Jack swallowed and nodded.

"Fair point."

"Ok. The day you disappeared we had all played basketball, Jack kept cheating. Archie called us to say he and Michaela were coming down to do some paperwork. I went out to organise the hotel and when I came back, you were all gone."

"It must have been half an hour after you left that the Rift took us, we barely got any warning." said Owen heavily.

"I tried to find you, tried to bring you back, but nothing I or anyone else tried worked." Ianto kept his voice steady, but Jack could see the pain and guilt on his face. Ianto had probably tried for years to find them, and had faced failure each and every time. Many of the lines on his face had probably been earned during his attempts to bring them back. "I did try." Ianto reiterated quietly, looking at the floor.

Toshiko's hand shot out and covered Ianto's at once. "We know you would have tried everything."

Ianto covered her hand with his other one. The gratitude on his face made Jack want to kiss him.

"So what happens now?" asked Owen quietly, looking at his hands. Ianto drew himself up and said,

"You'll need new identities. We can help you find new places to live, and we can help you catch up with everything that's happened in the world now."

"You mean like, new names?" asked Owen, sounding insulted. Ianto spread his hands, shrugging.

"Standard procedure, you know that."

"What about my medical license."

"I'm afraid until you're caught up with all the modern tech Owen, you can't have it renewed."

"This can't be happening." muttered Owen, getting up and looking out the window, his arms folded across his chest.

"I know it's hard," said Ianto in a placating tone.

"No you don't!" barked Owen, whirling around. "You cannot just sit there and say you get it, and all the while you're twenty years older than you were a few hours ago!"

Ianto stared at him hard for a long moment, and then rose to his feet. "You're right. I don't know, but I have dealt with enough displaced people-"

"We are not displaced!" snapped Gwen, getting to her feet.

"Yes, you are." said Ianto, maintaining a calm voice.

"No! We just have to go back, and then everything will be fine." she said looking to Owen for back up, which he gave with a nod.

"All you have to do is give Toshiko some time with the Rift Manipulator and-"

"No."

They stared at Ianto in shock. Jack didn't think he had heard him give such a firm no in all the time he had known him. Not even when he had been defiant about Lisa. Those nos had been uttered in desperation. This was just firm and unmovable certainty.

"What do you mean no?" demanded Gwen.

"You disappearance is established in the time line. Have you any idea how much would be changed if you went back?"

"Bollocks to it!" snapped Gwen.

Ianto closed his eyes and sighed, "You're not thinking straight. You're in shock."

"Don't you bloody dare Ianto! Don't you dare!" she snapped, "You may have grown up, but I-"

The lift door opened with a loud ping and a woman walked in with a wheel-tray. Jack recognised her at once as well. She was the same age as Ianto, dressed as well as him, but not in a suit, with auburn hair.

"Food's here." she said, shattering the tension. Ianto turned to her with an easy smile. "I've brought chicken soup, or thai chicken broth. Figured you'd be better off with something healthy after a trip through the Rift."

"Thanks." said Ianto quietly. She nodded, smiling. Then she looked at Jack, who rose to his feet.

"Michaela?"

"Heya Jack, welcome back." she said with a little wry grin. Jack smiled in relief at seeing another familiar face.

"Who're you?" asked Owen rudely.

"Michaela Murphy. She was second in command at Torchwood Two."

"And now she's second in command here." said Ianto, standing next to Michaela, his hands behind his back.

"You transferred?" asked Jack, glancing between them.

"Actually we merged the Torchwoods. After Archie passed away it… it made sense." Michaela's voice trembled slightly as she mentioned Archie. Jack felt like he'd been punched in the gut.

"Archie's gone?"

"Fifteen years ago." said Ianto gently. "Heart attack."

"Bloody Scottish diet." muttered Michaela, turning to the tray and picking up a bowl. There were two large pots covered with lids near the smaller bowls. "So, anyone hungry?" Jack nodded. "Thai or Chicken?"

"Go for Chicken." said Jack, not trusting his stomach at that moment.

Gwen refused any food, Toshiko accepted some Thai, and Owen took a bowl of chicken soup, then set it down as if it offended him. Ianto accepted a bowl of Thai which he ate with a small smile. Once the first spoonful hit Jack's tongue he realised he was absolutely starving and devoured the soup.

"What else do we need to know?" he asked as he was given seconds.

"There's a few things, but nothing that can't wait until you're more settled." said Michaela, "It's been a long day."

"We'll take you to the House." said Ianto decisively, "You can rest and then we'll go through things properly tomorrow."

"So that's it?" asked Gwen, quieter now. "We're not even going to try to get home?"

"There's no way to send you back. We know you don't come back until today because that's what happened, and we will not mess with the timelines." said Ianto, his arms folded across his stomach. Jack doubted any deity could move him to change his mind.

"Not if we want to avoid a house call from the wrong kind of doctor." sighed Michaela as she finished her own bowl of soup. Jack's eyebrow twitched at the turn of phrase but he said nothing. That was something that could be discussed later.

"Gwen, I know you don't want to hear this, but you are home. This is still Cardiff, it's just twenty years ahead of what you knew." said Ianto gently.

"What about Rhys?"

"Well, he's still alive and he still lives in Cardiff."

"Is he ok? Is he… I mean, did he…?" Gwen couldn't finish the sentence.

Michaela stepped forward and rested her hand on Gwen's back, rubbing in circles, "Shhh… We promise, we'll tell you everything you want to know. Tomorrow. Tonight you need to try and accept what has happened. Then we'll tackle the rest. Ok?"

Something about her tone seemed to do the trick, because Gwen sagged and nodded, dropping her chin and letting her hair fall over her face. Michaela kept up the circles on her back as she said gently, almost motherly in her tone,

"Come on. Let's take you to the House and you can rest there."

Ianto retrieved his jacket, shrugging it on. Jack suppressed a yawn as he began to feel tired, his feet moving on autopilot back to the lift. They went back down to the ground floor and were led to a car park. Ianto pulled out a pair of keys and pressed a button. Headlights flashed on and they moved towards them. The car was almost more like a military truck, designed to take large groups of people to destinations. But it was plush, with windows, leather seats, and small screens for DVDs while still able to accommodate about eighteen people.

Ianto and Michaela climbed into the front and Jack sat behind Ianto, able to see his eyes in the rear-view mirror. He felt relaxed, more at ease now and drowsily realised the soups had probably been drugged with sedatives. But even as he noticed Owen nod off next to him, he found himself trusting Ianto's intentions. He blinked at the mirror and Ianto met his gaze there. They held it for a long moment before Jack closed his eyes and slipped away to sleep.

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><p>As always, reviews are appreciated and taken into consideration.<p>

Night's Darkness


	3. Chapter 3

This is a short chapter, but I'm working on the next ones.

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Jack was gently shaken awake by Ianto who smiled down at him.

"Wakey-wakey. Just stay awake long enough to get to bed, ok?"

It really should have bothered Jack that Ianto was talking to him like a kid, but he felt sleepy and safe as Ianto helped him out. He then stood still and waited as Ianto helped Owen out while Toshiko and Gwen were supported by Michaela.

"This way." Ianto walked in front and Michaela at the rear, ushering them through a garage and through a dark kitchen. They went into a large hall, and up a stairs. There were only a few lights on, and the darkness outside made it hard for them to see what the house was like, but it was clearly massive. Jack realised it must be some sort of Torchwood asset.

"These four doors are your bedrooms." said Michaela, gesturing to four dark doors in a row. "They're all basically the same, just slightly different colour schemes. And they connect to each other inside."

"Incidentally, could you lock the corridor doors?" asked Ianto, pointing an index finger up, "Sleepwalker above. Sometimes wanders down and gets into the wrong bed."

Must have been another displaced person.

"There's pyjamas in the drawers, and bathrooms with anything you might need. And phones. Your extensions are #109 to #113. If you need us, call #100." said Michaela, tapping her chin as she recalled what else she needed to say. "I think that's it. Coming?"

Ianto's hand touched Jack's back, warm through his shirt, and Jack finally realised he did not have his coat. He hoped Ianto had saved it somewhere. He looked at Ianto who smiled at him reassuringly and opened the door to the first room for him. Jack peered in and whistled.

"Sweet digs you got here."

"Cliché phrases you got there, sir." said Ianto wryly. Jack looked at him, his face so close to Jack's and for a moment Jack didn't care where or when he was. He vaguely heard Michaela leading the other three to their rooms, but he was concentrating on Ianto. Ianto, who was still as handsome as ever, more so in fact. Jack licked his lips and reached out a hand, smoothing it down Ianto's arm to touch his hand.

"You're like good brandy. You get better with age."

Ianto chuckled and ducked his head. "Jack…"

Jack tightened his grip on Ianto's hand and said quietly, "I'm really glad you're here. Would you stay with me?"

Ianto looked up and gave him a regretful look, "Jack… if you need to talk, I'll stay of course. But if it's for… well I'm afraid I can't."

Jack let go of his hand at once, "Oh, right. You must have someone else."

"Well, yes. Actually I'm… I'm married now."

"Oh…" Jack glanced down and saw there was a silver band around Ianto's finger. "I didn't see that earlier."

"I take it off when I'm dealing with dangerous cases, or messy ones. If I was taken prisoner, I don't want to have anything on me that might tell them I have a wife."

"Ah… that makes sense." Jack couldn't help but wonder if that was true, or if Ianto had removed it to lessen the shock of this whole thing. "So… who's the lucky lady?"

Ianto opened his mouth to answer, when Michaela came back to them, her hand curling around Ianto's arm. Ianto glanced at her and then raised his eyebrows at Jack. Jack glanced down at Michaela's hand and saw she was wearing a silver band and diamond ring combination on her ring finger that matched Ianto's. Jack's eyebrows rose sharply.

"Oh!"

Ianto nodded, looking caught between discomfort and pleasure, telling Jack he was happy with this fact, but knew Jack might not be. Michaela glanced between them, then down at her own hand.

"Ah…" she flushed and much like Ianto showed the same mixture of pleasure and bashfulness. "I'll just… leave you two to-"

"No, it's ok. Really." said Jack quickly.

"Are you sure?" asked Ianto as Michaela pulled away from her husband as if to avoid rubbing this in Jack's face.

"Yeah! Not like I'd have expected you to wait for me." Jack gave a forced chuckle, "How long have you two been…?"

"Well, uh, we got together about, about a year after you guys disappeared and we were married a while later." Ianto reached out and wrapped his hand around Michaela's, even as he looked embarrassed. "We figured… we figured since we both worked for Torchwood and it was so easy to die young at the time that-"

"I, I get it." said Jack, nodding. "So… nineteen years. I'm not surprised. You're both loyal to a fault."

Both of them now looked deeply uncomfortable and Jack realised he was making it worse. So he said quickly, "Anyway! I'm going to go to bed. Like you said, rest will be good."

"Ok Jack."

"If you need us…"

"I'm fine, go on. I'm fine."

Neither of them argued further, but they didn't look like they were convinced as they walked away from Jack, hand in hand. Now Jack thought about it, what he had dismissed as their friendship making them easy with each other was something more. Or was it?

Jack shook such unkind thoughts from his mind and went into the room. It was big enough to hold a wardrobe, a bed big enough for at least three, with high windows. It was too dark to see what was outside, but Jack could tell they weren't near the city because there were no lights. He perused through the wardrobe and found pyjamas in a variety of sizes. He pulled out the ones that would fit him and sat on his bed, hanging his head. He couldn't believe it. Twenty years, just gone.

Jack had experienced many forms of time travel, but this was different. He had always had some form of control before. Now he had been plucked by the Rift and dropped, damn his life or anyone else's.

He knew he should be grateful, after all they could all be on another planet, or dead, or worse. To be just twenty years out of their time was really small fry.

There was a tentative knock on the side door, and Gwen came in, wearing oversized man pyjamas, and tears rolling down her cheeks. Toshiko followed, then Owen, both with grief on their faces.

"Doesn't seem real, does it?" Owen asked quietly as he sank onto the bed next to Jack. "Twenty years gone, Ianto's running Torchwood…"

"He's married too." said Jack, almost unable to restrain the words. "Him and Michaela."

Owen gave the floor a bug eyed look, then sighed, "Fuck…"

Jack swallowed and then placed his hand on Owen's shoulder. "Yeah…"

* * *

><p>Chapter 4 coming soon…<p>

Reviews are always welcome and taken into consideration.

Night's Darkness


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys, I'm posting a bit early because I'm gonna be out of commission for a week, due to an eye procedure I'm getting done tomorrow. I'd really appreciate being able to come back to find a lot of concrit about this story, it'd cheer me up good and proper post-op! Especially since I'm not entirely sure how people are taking to this story. So, I hope to hear from you guys!

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

Jack woke up to a finger prodding his leg. He blinked and looked around. He found himself in bed with four of his team mates with a small child standing by the side.

'_Wow, what're the odds of this happening twice?'_ he wondered as he and the boy stared at each other. The boy was about eight years old, with dark hair and a button nose.

"Hello." said the boy.

"Hello…" said Jack, wondering where the kid had come from.

"Who are you?"

"Captain Jack Harkness."

"Oh…" the boy nodded as if that explained everything. "I'm Aiden."

"Hey Aiden." said Jack quietly, shifting as Gwen snuffled into his side where she had fallen asleep.

"You should get up soon." said Aiden as Owen's head shot up as he jerked awake, which woke Toshiko, since they had been curled up together. "Breakfast is in ten minutes."

"Ok, thank you Aiden." said Jack as he pulled free of Gwen, who stirred and lifted her head. Aiden nodded and walked out of the room. Jack realised he had forgotten to lock the door last night as Ianto had suggested.

"Who was that?" asked Gwen, grimacing as she wiped at her mouth.

"Aiden, apparently." said Jack as he got to his feet. He stretched and winced as his back popped. "And apparently breakfast is up."

"Oh, good."

Gwen and Toshiko moved to get changed and were back in the same clothes they had been wearing yesterday (twenty years ago) a few moments later. Jack and Owen had slept in their own clothes, the four of them having collapsed into an exhausted sleep on Jack's bed as they tried to figure themselves out and utterly failing. They shared a moment of preparation then walked out into the hall.

"Fuck, look at this place. Torchwood must be doing well on the payroll." said Owen quietly. It was true, the house was modern, beautiful and huge. They moved down the stairs, following the sound of a lot of people talking to each other.

"Kitchen's that way I guess." said Jack, leading the way. They walked it to the warm, inviting kitchen. And stopped dead in the doorway.

A large table took up much of the free space, and it was almost completely taken up by children. The oldest seemed to be about 17 or 18, and there was a small toddler and every age in between. At first Jack reasoned that they were orphans, Rift refugees. But then he looked closer and realised all the children shared similar features. A few were red haired, a few were black, but some of the red heads had the same facial features as some of the dark haired ones, while others had similar body builds. Most of them were in school uniforms. At the oven were Ianto and Michaela, moving around each other with practised ease as the children ate and drank breakfast. A pile of lunchboxes were being filled by Michaela, as orange juice was being squeezed by Ianto.

One of the girls, about twelve suddenly noticed them in the door, and screamed.

"Freda what's wrong?" asked Ianto turning around and spotting them. "Oh! I'm sorry, Jack, I hadn't gotten around to telling the kids about you."

"It's Captain Jack Harkness!" said the boy from before, Aiden, with an air of absolute authority, his hands moving rapidly. Several of the children gasped. The oldest narrowed her eyes.

"That's right Aiden." said Michaela, running her hand over his thick, curly hair. Then she lifted her hands and started gesturing as she spoke. "This is Captain Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato."

"The people from the picture in daddy's office?" asked one of the youngest children, a red headed girl, her hands moving too.

"That's right Deva." said Ianto, his hands gesturing with quick efficient movements. "They worked for Torchwood with me."

The kids all nodded, as Jack realised belatedly that the strange gestures of the hands they were all doing was Sign Language. He glanced around surreptitiously, but was saved from wondering for long when a boy of about 12 or 13 started gesturing silently.

"They did disappear, but they came back yesterday. Remember we told you that the Rift can return people as well as take them." said Michaela, signing to the boy as she spoke.

"Come and sit down." said Ianto, still signing. "You're probably hungry. We've made pancakes."

Slowly the four sat down in the free seats, and Aiden popped off his seat and returned with four plates, which he placed in front of them, while a girl about the same age gave them knives and forks. Ianto set a plate piled with pancakes in front of them.

"If you want more let me know." he said easily, then straightened up and moved around the table, saying, "Right! Introductions. These are our children."

Owen glanced around the table and then stared at Ianto in dull shock, "All of them?"

Several of the kids giggled, the oldest one, a girl, sneered in disgust.

"Disgusting, isn't it?"

"Leeza!" snapped Michaela.

"Well it is!" snapped Leeza, pushing her plate away.

"Oh shut it Leeza." snapped the oldest boy.

"Make me Archer!"

"Enough!" said Ianto. He did not raise his voice, but the power behind it was unmistakeable. Leeza and Archer fell quiet, along with the rest of the kids. Ianto regarded them all with a stern eye, then relaxed his shoulders and said, "Leeza is our oldest, she's almost eighteen."

Leeza shrugged at them, glaring at her food.

"Then Archer is sixteen."

Archer gave a bright smile and waved to them.

"Toshi over here is fifteen."

Jack raised his eyebrows and actually felt Toshiko's face flush hot as Toshi looked at her namesake with a bored expression and nodded. She had brown hair, and green eyes.

"Eoin –spelt E-O-I-N- is almost fourteen."

Eoin ducked his head shyly and waved his fingers without looking at them. Owen straightened up in surprise.

"Freda and Georgina are twelve, they'll be thirteen in August."

An identical pair of twins gave matching smiles but while Freda had short cropped hair, Georgina had a long braid.

"Jacque is eleven."

Jack looked at the deaf boy who actually grinned and threw him a wink.

"Erin is eleven as well."

Erin was red haired and wore thick glasses, and seemed to be focused on something in her hands.

"Shannon is ten."

Shannon was almost vampiric with her dark hair and pale skin and wide eyes. There was something in her eyes that seemed familiar to Jack.

"Guinevere is nine."

Guinevere also had her mother's hair, and had grown it long, with pink clips in it. A princess name for a little princess. Gwen couldn't take her eyes off her.

"Aiden, you've met. He's seven. Taran is five."

Taran was busy trying to fit a whole pancake in his mouth.

"Deva is four. Christoffer is three and our baby Quinn is two."

Quinn looked up at the mention of his name, then turned back to his mother as she placed a bowl in front of him.

Jack looked over all the children and wasn't sure what to think. Fifteen children. How the hell had these two managed that while running Torchwood? Most marriages in Torchwood had failed completely. This just seemed impossible.

Thankfully they were saved from having to comment because there was a squeal of horror from Shannon, who leapt away from the table as Erin flailed to grab something on the table. Something alive.

"Ew! Mum, Erin's frog is on the table." wailed Shannon, running around the table and hiding behind Michaela.

"Erin, you've been told before, no animals at the table." Michaela scolded as she tried to still a squirming Shannon. Jacque grinned and tried to help Erin catch the animal as Erin cried,

"It's a toad, not a frog. Come back here."

Jack reached out and wrapped his fingers around the toad as it leapt for the plate of pancakes.

"Got him!" he said, pulling his hand away from the table. Erin ran around like a shot and grabbed at Jack's hand.

"Don't hurt him!"

"Easy sweetheart, I won't." said Jack, turning over his hand and opening it. The toad gave an offended croak as Erin scooped it up and held it close to her chest.

"Erin, put him back in his tank." ordered Ianto as he wiped the table where the toad had hopped.

"But daddy-"

"Now Erin." said Ianto firmly. Erin pouted and walked away, whispering to the toad in her hands. Jack noticed she was wearing bright yellow wellies on her feet as she left. Meanwhile, Michaela was trying to get Shannon to sit down again.

"But it's icky!"

"River, a chroí, it's gone now, and daddy's cleaned it up. Now you need to finish your breakfast. Go on now."

Shannon looked very unhappy, but did as she was told. Jacque was making Deva and Christoffer giggle by puffing out his cheeks like a frog and pretending to hop on his hands on the table.

"Right, ok you lot," said Ianto "What's on the agenda today?"

"I've got cello." said Freda.

"I've got my woodcraft." said Archer.

"I'm going out with my friends to the shopping centre." said Toshi.

"Which friends?" asked Michaela.

"What's that matter?" Toshi demanded.

"I'm just curious." sighed Michaela as she wiped Quinn's face.

"It's just the usual ones. Marky, and Celeste, and Parvati." said Toshi in an irritated voice.

"Ok then. Leeza, will you pick Toshi up from the shopping centre?"

"Why do I have to do it?" demanded Leeza.

"You're the only one driving yet and if you want to continue to have access to the car, you'll have to do your bit." said Ianto at once. This sounded like an old argument.

"Ugh! Fine!" Leeza got to her feet and brought her plate to the dishwasher before flouncing out of the room.

"Mam! Mam!" cried Quinn, reaching out with both hands and making grabby motions with his fingers.

"You want to get down Quinn?" asked Michaela. Quinn nodded. "What do you say?"

"Wanna get down! Wanna get down!"

"All right mo leanbh!" she cooed, unbuckling him from his high chair and lifting him out and setting him down. "Hurry up the rest of you, it's almost eight. The bus'll be here soon."

"Mum! I need vinegar and lemon juice!" cried Guinevere.

"For what?"

"Volcano eruption thingy. My teacher said we needed it."

"Ok, go check the pantry, there should be a new bottle and some lemons too. Hurry."

"Where's my bunny! I can't find Puca!" Erin came running into the room. She was pulling at her pockets, looking very upset.

"Where did you last have her?" asked Ianto as he helped Aiden get his bag sorted.

"I don't know!"

"Archer, help Erin look, would you?"

"Sure dad. C'mon carrot-top, lets find Puca." Archer took Erin's hand and they left the kitchen.

"You've got five minutes!" called Michaela. Quinn ran past Jack and the others laughing. Jack watched him go and wondered if he should catch him. "Georgina where's your bag?"

"In my room."

"Go and get it."

"Daddy! My shoelaces!" Taran threw himself at Ianto and lifted his foot, wiggling it expectantly. Ianto bent down and tied the lace, then the other one. "Daddy?"

"Yes Taran?"

"Quinn's gone out to the garage."

"What?" Michaela almost dropped the plate she had picked up and bolted out after Quinn.

"Ok, Jacque, Shannon, go clear the table. Leave our guests alone though. I'll do them."

The two did as they were told, moving with practised ease. Michaela came back with a crying Quinn on her hip, and something small in her hand.

"Erin! I found Puca!"

Jack felt like he was in the eye of a storm, all these kids running around him, talking and pushing at each other and their parents keeping things organised amongst the chaos. Erin came running in and seized a small bunny doll from Michaela's hand.

A doorbell just about made itself heard over the noise and Ianto picked up a phone.

"They're on their way." he said, then hung up. "Kids, the bus! Let's go, go, go!"

As soon as he said this, Christoffer burst into tears and grabbed Ianto's leg, hiding his face in his jeans. Ianto closed his eyes and sighed, then bent down and scooped up the three year old as he walked into the hall. Jack leaned back in his chair to keep watching as all the kids started moving into the hall after Ianto.

"C'mon mab, it's ok. You'll have fun." His voice was gentle, reassuring, as Christoffer wrapped his arms around his father's neck and clung on. "Christoffer, I promise you'll have fun. I know you miss mummy and me, but we'll be here when you get back, ok? You'll go with Deva and she'll look after you. Won't you Deva?"

Deva shrugged, swinging her lunchbox around as she stood near the door. Christoffer did not seem at all comforted and buried his tear stained and snotty face in Ianto's neck. Ianto didn't blink, he just rubbed Christoffer's back and rocked him.

"It'll be ok. You'll get yummy food, and you'll play with the toys…"

"Ianto, they need to go." said Michaela, coming up next to him and rubbing Christoffer's back. Quinn was now whimpering on her shoulder. "Christoffer, it's time to go."

Christoffer began to wail again. Archer, now in his coat and his bag on his back, came up to them and held out his hands.

"Hey little leanbh, come with me, eh? You wanna sit in my lap on the bus?"

Christoffer looked up and wiped at his face as he blinked at his brother. Archer seemed to take that as an agreement and gently took Christoffer from Ianto's arms. Ianto mouthed 'Thank you!' to his son, and then moved and started tapping all the kids on the head.

"Guinevere, Aiden, Freda, Georgina…"

He was counting them off as they pulled on their coats. Jack imagined if he didn't one would probably try to play hookey.

"Ok, everyone's ready. Off you go."

"Bye!" some of them chorused as the front door was opened and they all hurried out, all thirteen of them. Quinn remained in his mother's arms as the two parents watched their kids leave. They seemed to wait until they were on the bus before stepping back into the house and Ianto shut the door, and they both sagged against the door, looking exhausted. Ianto blinked and looked up, meeting Jack's eyes. Jack raised his eyebrows and grinned,

"Busy day?"

Both parents snorted, Ianto sighing heavily, "Oh no. That was a calm one."

Quinn looked at his parents and giggled around his thumb.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5 coming soon…<p>

See you in a week or so everyone!

Night's Darkness


	5. Chapter 5

So sorry about the delay with the updates, but all my fics are behind because of my surgeries and the fact that I'm trying to catch up with my assignments.

Enjoy!

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

Ianto and Michaela returned to the kitchen table and sat down with a relieved sigh, Quinn now in his mum's lap, sucking his thumb. There was a long silence as Jack, Gwen, Toshiko and Owen tried to think of something to say. Finally Owen cleared his throat,

"So… fifteen kids? Really?"

The couple laughed and Ianto covered Michaela's hand on the table. "Yeah… bit of a shock, isn't it?"

"Two kids would have been a surprise! But fifteen?" Owen shook his head and sat back into his chair, "I mean… kudos Michaela. How you did that… I mean… Jesus!"

Michaela flushed and kissed the top of Quinn's dark head. "Believe me, I'm as surprised as anyone."

Chuckling, Ianto passed his fingers through his salt and pepper hair, "Yeah, I mean, if you'd told us when we got together that we'd have even one kid we probably would have doubted you. Fifteen, we'd have had you sectioned. But… life can surprise you."

"How could you possibly have that many in seventeen years? I don't think the maths adds up."

"Well, one pregnancy was twins." said Michaela wryly. "And then Jacque, Erin and Shannon were all born within seven months."

"… how?" Owen's voice had risen to a squawk.

"Well, I got pregnant with Erin in late November, after having Jacque in September, and she was born in December." Michaela shrugged as they gaped at her, "I got stuck in a time bubble where things went faster inside."

"You spent nine months in a temporal bubble?"

Michaela nodded, "Didn't even realise I was pregnant until I came out of it. In labour. Wasn't fun."

Jack could imagine that it had been more traumatic than not fun.

"And then Shannon was born in April. We made the mistake of taking a 'three day trip' with the Doctor on the TARDIS to help him deal with a situation, which became a year and a month where we couldn't go back."

"During which time we were both going insane with worry for our kids, and during which time Shannon was conceived. Inside the vortex."

Jack's eyes widened, a spark of envy going through his gut, "You guys had sex in the TARDIS?"

Ianto scratched the back of his head with a little grin on his face. "Yeah… and as a result we have a child who is part Time Lord –don't ask."

"Also the Doctor has made an official no sex in the TARDIS rule." said Michaela with a little smirk.

"Even made a plaque of it." said Ianto lightly, looking up at the ceiling.

"Shannon is part Time-Lord?" asked Jack in alarm.

"Why'd you think we called her Shannon, we nicknamed her River?" said Michaela stopping Quinn from reaching for a salt shaker.

"They don't know about River."

"Oh, right, sorry. The years blend a bit."

"I get that." said Jack wryly. "So, sounds like you two haven't really stopped since we…"

"Pretty much. We like it that way. Most of the time." said Ianto as Quinn again tried to grab the salt shaker and was held back by his mum. He sulked and squirmed, trying to wriggle free.

"Why don't we take you on a tour of the house properly now?" Michaela offered as she held on tight to Quinn. "We'll start outside, get some air, -and this one," she grunted as Quinn threw himself to the side. "Can go on his tricycle with us."

"Tricycle!" shouted Quinn, looking up at Michaela with expectant eyes.

"Yes. Where's your tricycle, hm?" she asked him as they all rose to their feet. Quinn thought hard for a moment, his little face drawn into hard thought, then he pointed to a door leading out into a garden. "That way? Will we go find it? Hm? C'mon, let's go find it!" Michaela hefted Quinn into her arms so he was lying across them and she made fake airplane noises as she made him 'fly' through the air to the door. Jack couldn't help but grin as she put her back to the door and sat on the handle to open it, saying in a strained voice to Ianto, "He's getting too big for me, God!"

Ianto chuckled to himself as they followed at a more sedate pace, out into a large garden. Only on the outside of the house did they appreciate just how massive the house was.

"How many rooms?" asked Jack, looking up at the four floors.

"Twenty-one bedrooms, twenty-five bathrooms (still doesn't seem to be enough), two sitting rooms, a dinning room, gym cum dancing room, garage, a games room, then there's the menagerie, the stables and the pool."

"And… this is just your home, not a Torchwood base of any kind?"

"If push comes to shove, it could serve as that, but we've never needed to and, hopefully, we never will. Michaela and I wanted to give our kids all the things we never had, but we do try to be sensible about it. If they want a pet, they have to look after it. If they want a horse, they have to make sure it's looked after, and they have to be able to ride well before they can have it. We don't let them have TV's in their rooms until they're sixteen, because otherwise we'd never see them, and we only allow it because with so many little ones, Leeza couldn't take all the cartoons and nickelodeon anymore. We all have dinner together unless we're stuck saving the world, or something of equal importance. We try to have time as a whole and individually with our kids."

"It must be difficult with so many." said Gwen quietly as they looked over the vast lawn.

"It can be. You always worry about letting one slip through the cracks. And of course, when Jacque was born we were afraid of our older ones feeling jealous at all the attention he got because he was deaf, which was only made worse when two more kids followed within seven months, and they had faced the prospect of losing their mother when she was trapped in the bubble."

"And yet you had six more…"

Ianto chuckled. "My sister thinks we're nuts. Our co-workers think it's hilarious, it's why I'm Bobby and Michaela's Ethel."

At their blank looks, Ianto smirked, "Robert Kennedy and his wife Ethel had 11 kids and lived on the Kennedy Compound. We have 15 and call our home the Menagerie Compound."

"Ianto look out!" called Michaela with a laugh. Ianto turned as Quinn, on a little blue tricycle came barrelling down the pathway, his legs pumping away at the pedals as he chased after his father. In his dungarees, with Ianto's curly hair, Michaela's green eyes and a button nose scrunched in concentration, it was quite possibly the cutest thing Jack had seen in a very long time.

"Hey mab! Where're you going?" asked Ianto with a grin as Quinn reached him. "Are you going to take Jack, Gwen, Owen and Tosh on a tour? Are you going to show them around the house? Are you going to show them the animals?"

Quinn nodded eagerly, "Yup! I show them!"

"What'd you think?" Ianto asked them, "Do you want Quinn to show you the animals?"

Jack stared down at the smiling toddler and doubted he could have said no, even if he wanted to. "Absolutely. Show us the animals Quinn, please."

Quinn nodded and started peddling again, turning his tricycle around and going back up the path they had meandered down. They followed him, Ianto taking Michaela's hand as she rejoined them, alongside the house and to a side part that looked almost like a small house. Quinn parked his tricycle by the door and climbed off, reaching up and grasping for the door handle. He was too small to reach. In any case, the door was apparently locked as Ianto pulled out a set of keys. He unlocked the door and Quinn ran in, shouting,

"Come look at Olly! Come look at Olly!"

"After you." said Ianto to the four. They entered the menagerie and Jack gaped at the cages and tanks that filled the single, vast room. Fish watched him with bored eyes, birds started chirruping, and reptiles didn't bother to react.

"Jesus… this is a zoo!"

"No! It's a menagerie. Don't go talking about zoos. Erin is still pleading with us for a pet tiger." said Michaela as Quinn came running back and stood in front of them, leaning forward and pulling at his dungarees.

"Come, come and see Olly!"

"Ok kiddo. Who's Olly?" asked Jack. Quinn opened his mouth to answer, then turned and ran away, back into the room. They followed him through the Menagerie and out into what looked like a miniature farm. Here there were pens with rabbits, pens with guinea pigs and two pens with small pigs. Quinn went straight to the pig pens and pointed at a tiny pink piglet with black spots.

"Olly!" said Quinn, "My Olly."

The piglet came trotting over and stuck its snout through the mesh, clearly looking for food. Quinn regarded him for a moment, then took off to a bucket, where he pulled out a handful of something and came back, offering it to Olly.

"You have pigs?" asked Owen dully as Olly nibbled the pellets. "You have horses… you have snakes and budgies. Haven't you got any normal pets? Like cats, or dogs?"

"What, rabbits aren't normal?" asked Michaela wryly as she fed the pigs in the other pens some pellets as well, and then began to make her way around the other pens. "Good, the kids fed them all."

"Besides, we do have dogs and cats."

"Dubhtach?" asked Jack, then realised that was impossible. Even a long lived wolfhound would not have lasted twenty years.

"She died when Leeza was five." said Ianto quietly, "We let Leeza and Archer pick a dog each and Leeza got her own Wolfhound, while Archer got a tea cup terrier. He was always wary about Dubhtach, I think just because of her size."

Jack recalled the dog being the height of a Shetland pony, so he could not blame a three year old for being nervous.

"I wanna hold him!" said Quinn, rubbing Olly's snout through the mesh.

"Maybe later leanbh, you're meant to be showing our friends the house." said Michaela gently nudging him around. "Do you want to show them the swings? If you do, maybe daddy will give you a big push on the swings."

Quinn looked up at Ianto who nodded with a smile, "Sure, I'll give you a push."

Quinn thought hard for a moment, weighing his choices, then took off at a run, heading back the way he came. The grown ups followed him, pausing only so Quinn's hand's could be washed, much to his displeasure, and then he was on his tricycle again, bringing them deeper into the garden cum field. They came upon a small playground, with wooden posts and metal chains holding up the swings, a see-saw, a slide and a jungle gym. Two swings were for babies and toddlers, the other six were normal seats. Quinn clambered off his tricycle and rushed at the swings.

"Daddy! Daddy push."

"Coming." said Ianto, following the toddler and picking him up under the arms, lifting him up and sitting him down in the swing. He walked around the swing and gave Quinn a gentle push.

"Higher!" ordered Quinn. Ianto rolled his eyes and obeyed with a grin. "Wheee!"

Jack watched the scene with a grin, and then realised this was no dream or imagined idea. His smile faltered as he remembered that this was all real, that Ianto was 44 now, and he was playing with his youngest son (of fifteen!), while his wife waved to the toddler.

"Where're the stables? I haven't gone riding in a long time." he asked to distract himself.

"Just over there." Michaela pointed to a wooden building. "If you want to go for a ride, feel free, you can take Embarr, my horse. He'll be glad to get a real ride out again. I've been so busy with the kids and Torchwood, I never get enough time to get out."

"What kind of horse is Embarr?"

"Arabian chestnut. I always wanted one as a kid, so when we bought the big house, I decided I would get one. Of course that meant getting a pony for the kids, and then Ianto wanted to learn. Now we end up having these weekend pony picnic trips during the summer."

"Sounds lovely." said Jack, trying to conceal his jealousy.

"Yeah. It's the one thing I really missed whenever I was pregnant. I did keep it up in the first few weeks on Aiden, but then Ianto had a fit, so I always stopped riding the minute that test is positive."

"You mustn't have missed it too much, considering… well, fifteen times and all."

"Fourteen." corrected Michaela with a wag of her index finger. "And Aiden was pregnancy number nine."

Jack shook his head, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Gotta say… I never saw you as the motherly type."

Michaela's face tightened, "What do you mean?"

"You just… seemed happy on your own."

Michaela drew herself up, "Perception's a funny thing Captain."

Jack realised he had said the wrong thing as Michaela stepped away from him and went to join Ianto and Quinn.

"Doesn't feel real." muttered Owen, putting his back to the small family.

"What do you mean?" asked Toshiko.

"This is all way too… too idyllic. I mean, look at this place. This is impossible. Ianto's not one for this kind of life. He's terrified of kids, no way he could have fifteen of them."

"It's different with your own." said Jack, but he felt a twinge inside his mind.

"Even so, no modern woman would have this many kids willingly!" said Owen, glancing at the couple with great suspicion.

"What are you trying to say Owen?" asked Gwen carefully.

"I'm saying, I'm starting to doubt this whole thing is real. I think someone is trying to trick us."

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><p>So… what do we think? Is Owen right? Put your theories down, I love to know what you guys are theorising. Sometimes you guys come up with better ideas than my own plan for the story. XD<p>

Night's Darkness


	6. Chapter 6

Ah RL, you get in the way of so many fics…

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

No one speculated on Owen's assertion as they were taken back to the house and shown around the various rooms. Each of the kid's rooms had their name on the door. Jack would have thought they would be in age order, but then he noticed Freda and Georgina, the twins, were on separate floors. Leeza was in the top of the house, the room was like a semi-apartment. Archer's room was close to Ianto and Michaela's, with Quinn's room between them.

Throughout the tour, Quinn seemed to have decided he would be the one who gave the tour, so he would pat at each door, and announce in a loud voice what the room was.

"Bathroom!"

"Daddy Office!"

"TV room!

"Archer Room!"

"Library!"

"Doctor Room!"

"Doctor room?" repeated Jack as he eyed the child's drawing of a blue box on the door.

"The Doctor occasionally pops in and we gave him his own room where he can park the TARDIS."

"He's a life saver when he's around, seeing as he speaks baby and can tell us what they want without a problem." said Ianto, resting his hand on Quinn's head to keep him from running to the next door. Michaela prodded him in the side as she said,

"Which he'll never get to do again, will he?"

Ianto gave a wide eyed nod of the head, "No ma'am! No more babies in this house, no siree!"

Michaela snorted, "How many times did we say that?"

"I stopped counting." Ianto shrugged, gaining a cheeky grin on his face. He got another poke for his trouble. "Anyway, even though he's a bit of a pain… he's impossible to hate when you live with him for a year and a half. So we decided he deserved a room in our home, since he said our room on the TARDIS would always be available."

Despite the spike of jealously in his gut, Jack felt warm at the idea that Ianto had cared enough about the Doctor to give him his own room. He reached out and touched the painting of the TARDIS caressing the bumps of the dried paint. Quinn huffed and tugged on Jack's trousers.

"Uncle Jack!"

Jack's head snapped down in shock at the whingy call and then he looked up at Ianto, who flushed.

"Well, all the kids have heard about you guys, they kind of just, started calling you all uncles and aunts."

Toshiko blushed and smiled with pleasure as Owen scowled in suspicion and shared another look with Jack. Gwen seemed torn between denial and being touched. She said,

"Can you please tell me about Rhys now? I'm sorry, but… I need to know."

Ianto and Michaela shared a look and then Michaela nodded, which prompted Ianto to scoop up Quinn and say,

"Ok, we'll talk in my office. We'll drop Quinn into the playroom as we go."

The playroom was only a door away from Ianto's office, and as they sat down, Ianto switched on a monitor which showed Quinn happily delving into a toy box. Jack looked around the office as Ianto pulled a plush leather chair from behind a mahogany desk and sat down. The office was full of old fashioned objects, it was warm, rich and dark. It was Ianto. On a wall was a floating frame inside which seemed to be every type of writing implement from the beginning of history to now, from a pointed stone, to a quill to a biro. Next to this was a framed photo of Jack, Gwen, Owen, Toshiko and Ianto, taken from the CCTV. They were sitting around the low coffee table, having lunch and laughing. Jack had no idea when this was from, but he smiled at it. Next to that was a photo of Ianto and Lisa, looking young and full of life. And next to that were two photos, one above another. The top one was of Ianto and Michaela's wedding, their smiles shy and happy as they looked at the camera, Ianto's arms around Michaela, Michaela in an elegant white dress. Below that was a photo from a studio of Ianto and Michaela with all fifteen of their kids. Clearly it had been taken a couple of years ago, because Quinn was a small baby in Michaela's hands. All the pictures together filled Jack with a chill that he could not explain.

Ianto began speaking, distracting Jack from the pictures,

"Ok, I know this is hard, but you really need to understand how much time has passed-"

"Your kids certainly help with that." said Owen shortly. Ianto gave him a weak smile that seemed full of pity and Jack narrowed his eyes. Ianto didn't show pity, ever.

"When you guys disappeared, we tried for months to actively get you back, we had to call UNIT in to help manage the Rift because we were trying to find you guys, but the fact was, we couldn't find you. We never officially stopped looking, but… well after a year we had to focus on the present."

"You gave up? Just like that?" demanded Gwen.

"Not just like that." said Michaela curtly, resting her hand on Ianto's arm and rubbing it, "It was hard for everyone, especially Ianto to have to admit that we had no leads, no new information, nothing that could help."

Ianto looked down, then up at Jack saying quietly, "After a while I figured you'd rather I go on and keep protecting the planet than risk it by obsessing over you. God knows I could have obsessed."

Jack nodded, understanding that, much like with Lisa, Ianto could have easily become consumed by the need to find the team, but he had been the only field worker left in Torchwood.

"We always looked into anything we thought might help, hell, we even asked the Doctor to help, but he said there was nothing he could do. Something about crossing timelines or something, he's not very good at explaining things –not this regeneration anyway." Michaela rubbed Ianto's arm again as she spoke, comforting him automatically.

"Anyway, after about seven years, I think Rhys finally accepted that he would never get you back."

"He waited for seven years?" asked Gwen, sounding choked.

"Well, he accepted you were gone. He took another four years to move on from you and start… well start dating again."

"Oh God, he found someone else?" she whimpered, covering her mouth as her eyes filled with tears. The couple nodded, Michaela holding up some kind of computer tablet.

"We… we have pictures if you want-"

"No!" Gwen shook her head, "No, I don't –I don't want to know."

"Gwen," said Ianto compassionately, "He still loves you, but would you really want him to have been alone for twenty years?"

"But –but I'm here now! He and I could-"

"He's married Gwen, and he does love his wife and their two kids. You can't expect him to just drop them because you're back, it isn't that simple." Ianto was firm, but his eyes conveyed the pity he had for Gwen's situation. That annoyed Jack, because again, Ianto wasn't one for pity. Compassion, yes, but not pity.

"How –how long have they been together?"

"Uh… they met about six years ago and got married five years ago, they have a daughter, she's four and a son, who's two."

"For a long time Rhys wanted nothing to do with us, except he wanted to know if anything had happened with you, so he stayed in touch. But since he married we see him sometimes, he brings the kids here to play."

Gwen held her hand up, shaking her head, "I don't want to know about it. I can't right now."

"So… do you want us to tell him you're back yet, or do you want us to wait until you've had some time."

"What does it matter, he's got someone else, I don't… I don't…" Tears were now rolling down Gwen's cheeks and she shook her head, unable to convey what she was feeling. Ianto and Michaela both nodded,

"Ok. We'll wait. It'll be up to you when or if we tell him."

"In the meantime we have to organise some new identities for you."

"What?" demanded Owen, scowling.

"Standard procedure. But we'll let you have some influence over it. You can pick your own names, if you want. And we can help you get your medical license back Owen."

"You can't just take our names."

"We did it with those displaced people from 1953." said Ianto.

"Yeah, and they took it well!" snapped Owen.

"John was the only one who fought it. Deborah adapted fine and Diane accepted it well enough until she flew into the Rift." said Ianto patiently.

"Deborah's also gotten married and had four children." said Michaela, pointing at another photo, showing an older Emma (or Deborah) with a handsome man and four children.

"Did everyone just pair off while we were gone?" demanded Gwen.

"Life goes on Gwen." said Ianto "I know it's hard but-"

"No you don't! You have no idea what this is like for us!" she snapped, "You got to stay here, you got to live out your lives. We didn't. Our lives were stolen from us!"

"And that's unfair, but you're going to have to deal with it." said Michaela with all the air of a mother. "We can't change it. We can't go back and change time."

"The Doctor could." said Toshiko, then covered her mouth as if she hadn't meant to say that aloud.

"No. Absolutely not." said Michaela at once.

"Why not?" demanded Gwen, looking at Jack, "Can't you get him to-"

"No." said Ianto, voice firm and calm. His hand was covering Michaela's, fingers brushing her wedding rings. "If you went back, you'd be altering the timelines."

"So?"

"Gwen, this is about more than just you. If you went back, things would be irreparably changed. Everything that's happened would be undone."

"You mean you'd no longer be the boss of Torchwood." sneered Owen. Ianto stiffened and after a moment he said in a deathly quite voice,

"That pales in comparison to losing my children. Which is what will happen if you go back. If you never disappeared, even if Michaela and I did end up together-" There was a heavy sense of doubt over that possibility, "It's unlikely our kids would exist as they do. Different conceptions, different environment, all of it would make them different. Or they just won't exist at all. And that is unacceptable."

There was a tense silence, and Jack glanced at Owen and Gwen's angry faces, to Toshiko's grieving one, to the determined, strong faces of Ianto and Michaela. And he once again got that sense of wrongness. But he did not comment on it. Instead he said,

"We understand that. It's just going to take time for us."

Two pairs of suspicious eyes fell on him, then Ianto nodded, "We know that, and we want to help you. But you need to understand that we will have to keep you from interfering with the timeline."

Jack nodded, glancing down at his wriststrap. They had allowed him to retain control over it, either indicating they did not know what it did or that-

"We know your wriststrap is broken." said Michaela, "Besides, we trust you enough to hope you care about not damaging time."

Jack nodded, but again felt that tug in his mind.

"What about my mother?" asked Toshiko quietly.

"She's still alive. We send her a regular amount of money each year, taken out of the pension."

"Torchwood doesn't have a pension." said Jack.

"It does now. Our life expectancy has gone up since you were taken. We still have early deaths, but they're much reduced because we've expanded." said Ianto, pride in his voice. "So we set up pensions for all five of you, just in case."

"How many work for Torchwood now?"

"Full time on base? Two hundred and sixty three. Then there's an additional three hundred off base."

"You rebuilt too."

"Had to. Couldn't fit every one in the old Hub."

"What about the Rift Manipulator?"

"Contained in so many levels of security Fort Knox is begging for upgrades."

"We got in fine." said Owen.

"We left that space open for you. We figured that if you did come back it would probably be in the same place."

"How convenient."

Ianto sighed with frustration, then looked up as a bell rang from an intercom. Michaela got to her feet and walked up to a screen on the wall next to the intercom. A car was at the gate. Michaela pressed the intercom,

"Adrianna, what are you doing here, didn't you get our messages this morning?"

"No, I did not." was the accented reply. "Is something wrong?"

"Not exactly. We're dealing with the displaced Torchwood Three. We asked everyone to stay away from the house until they had settled."

Jack scowled at the description as Ianto said,

"One of our cleaners. She never checks her phone."

"You've got servants too?" asked Toshiko in surprise.

"Mostly to keep the house clean and running smoothly. We also have nannies, but they all live outside the house now. We thought limiting the amount of people you had to deal with until you were more… settled would be best, so we told everyone to stay away today. Except Wayna, he's our head groom, and he comes regardless. Odd guy."

"So you don't run the house alone?" asked Jack carefully.

"We try to be as involved as possible, but, especially when the kids were all younger, we needed people to look after them when we weren't around, like when the Rift acted up. So we had a few au pairs and live in cleaners. But now that only Quinn isn't in crèche, we don't have so many people living here to help us."

"Did you fuck any of your nannies?" growled Owen. Gwen and Toshiko looked at him in shock and Ianto twitched, his disapproval coming off him in waves. Owen sulked like a child, glaring at them all. Jack shook his head in disappointment.

"No." said Ianto with dignity. There was something in his voice that suggested there was more to that single word than was apparent. Jack was intrigued. "And I'll thank you to keep that kind of talk away from my kids."

Owen grunted and seemed to chew on his tongue in anger as Michaela came back and sat down again.

"We packed up all your belongings, they're stored at Three. You can go and collect them whenever you're ready." she said, not appearing to have overheard Owen's nasty words.

"How long will it take for you to build us new identities?" asked Jack.

"We can have them ready in a couple of hours, once you have decided on your names. We'll have to be a bit clever with your DNA, but-"

"DNA? What?"

"Well the identity cards are in action now. They contain all your data, your DNA, fingerprints, work record, school record…"

"Everyone has them?"

"They're issued to babies when they're born and they have to be kept with you at all times."

Neither Ianto nor Michaela looked pleased by this, but Ianto said reluctantly,

"As invasive as they can be, child abduction has plummeted since they were issued. If a child goes missing, the system across the UK is alerted and starts scanning for the card. And if a child hasn't got one, that alerts security on buses, trains, the airport…"

"It's not foolproof, but it is useful." sighed Michaela. "The problem is, Identity Theft has increased ten-fold. Some police are so thick they refuse to believe spouses, children or parents that someone is who they say they are."

"Of course now the government wants to have the chip in the card implanted in your hand. Much tougher to steal, and a fuck-ton more disturbing." sneered Ianto, flicking his fingers into his palm irritably.

"So… not much has changed there." said Toshiko in a wry tone. The couple shook their heads, wearing 'you have no idea' expressions on their faces.

"Mummy!" Quinn's voice filtered through the baby monitor and Michaela glanced at the screen before getting up and leaving the room. They watched as Quinn showed her his hand, which he had hurt and Michaela pressed kisses to, making everything better.

"God I wish everything was so easily fixed." sighed Ianto, pushing his fingers through his hair –Jack tried not to notice how incredibly hot he looked doing that –and sitting into his chair. After twenty years he had lost his stiffness, seeming completely at ease in his body, but remained sophisticated and calming in his suit. Jack had longed to see him like this so many times, and now that he had it, he wasn't in the mood to enjoy it. Ianto checked his watch, and looked around as Michaela came back. "Can you call Elisa?"

"Check up on her progress?"

"Yeah, please."

Michaela looked at the team, then at Ianto, then back, before she nodded, "Sure…". Suspicion flared in her eyes for a microsecond and then she left the room. Jack narrowed his eyes and then looked at Ianto. Ianto sighed and sat forward, looking serious.

"Now I need you to listen to me. This is very important…"

* * *

><p>Chapter 7 coming soon…<p>

Dun, dun, duuunnnnn! XD What's Ianto going to tell them? Take a guess, go on, you know you want to.

Night's Darkness


	7. Chapter 7

Apologies for the delay, but it's exam time, so I'm very distracted.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

As one the team sat up and gave Ianto their full attention. Ianto took in a deep breath and said

"Since you disappeared, the fact that aliens are real has become public."

Jack's stomach dropped in disappointment. He had been hoping-

"Earth is in a state of panic over it still, it happened seven years ago, but no one is sure what to do about it. Some countries want to open negotiations, some don't. This has led to conflict between some countries, mostly ones that would have been 'developing' when you left –some have since reached 'developed'.

"It's part of the reason why the UK has become even more of a police/nanny state than it was twenty years ago. People are terrified that the end will come from the stars –no matter how many times I say on the News that it won't."

"You're on the News?" blurted Gwen. Ianto rolled his eyes as he nodded,

"God help me but yes. I'm the Head of Torchwood, the first defence for the UK –and the world in general –against alien attacks. And apparently since I'm good looking and a family man, the BBC can't leave me alone."

"What a burden." sneered Owen.

"I would much rather be left alone to do my job." said Ianto at once.

"But if aliens are known, why do we need to change our names?"

"Because the Rift is still secret. If people in Cardiff knew what they were sitting on they'd flee for their lives and cause complete pandemonium."

"So you don't want people to find out that we're displaced." said Jack. Ianto nodded. "Can we still work for Torchwood?"

"Sure, if you want to. You can even work in one of the other branches if you like."

"Other branches?"

"We re-established One in London, and we re-founded Four in Dublin. Two is still around as well, as the Main Archives –our Chief of Security Torin Scully, and our Security Technician Elisa Harmaajärvi have made it more secure than Fort Knox, Cheyenne Mountain and the Death Star put together."

"The Death Star had a weakness." said Toshiko without thinking. Ianto grinned,

"Yeah… don't go see the new re-worked version of Star Wars, you're not gonna like it."

"You re-opened One?" asked Jack sharply. Ianto gave him a narrow-eyed look of condescension.

"Yeah, because everyone in One knew exactly what would happen with the Ghost Shifts –for God's sake Jack, One wasn't a big evil corporation. It was run by people with blinkers on and too much ambition. Don't blame the location or the building for the work of a few people inside."

Jack clenched his fists, he couldn't believe Ianto was talking to him like he was a child. Even if he did have a point.

"So what now?" asked Owen, "We're just supposed to accept this?"

"I'm afraid so." Ianto got up from his chair and went to his desk. He rummaged through a drawer and pulled out four computer pads and four small disks. He inserted the disks into the pads and then brought them over to them. "Now, these pads contain all the history of the world. You can type in the date you were taken and go from there. We keep them updated with the latest records."

"For other displaced people?"

"Of course. We've found the best way to help them adjust is to let them browse as they wish. If you want you can go back to your rooms, or the library, or wherever you like, to read them."

"Where are you going?"

"I took the day off to look after you guys, but that doesn't mean I haven't work to do. Besides, I think you could use a break from me, I can tell by your faces having me around is making this harder for you."

Astute as ever, Jack would give him that.

"If you need me, I'll be around. Either here, or in the kitchen –it's my turn to make dinner."

"You cook?"

"When I can. We do have a cook though –but again, we told her not to come in."

"You didn't have to." said Gwen, picking up a pad and inhaling deeply. Ianto smiled at her gently.

"It's ok. It'll be nice to make a big meal, haven't had the time to do it lately."

Jack realised they were being dismissed without it being said. It occurred to him that Ianto needed a break from them, that he was having just as hard a time dealing with them as they were with him. He decided to give him his time.

"Ok, we'll go and catch up. Twenty years… bet there's been a lot more sex scandals!"

Ianto gave him an awkward smile for the joke. Jack gently guided the other three out of the office and shut the door behind him, glancing back in time to see Ianto sitting behind his desk. He couldn't help but admire how good he looked.

"So what now?"

"Huh?"

"So what now?" repeated Owen irritably. "How're we gonna get out of here?"

"You really think this place isn't real?" asked Gwen hopefully.

"C'mon! This is utter bullshit. Aliens are openly acknowledged by the world? Ianto's got fifteen kids, and he's the BBC golden boy?"

"Life is surprising." said Jack.

"You're not seriously getting taken in by all this?" demanded Owen.

"We shouldn't be talking about this here." said Toshiko quietly. Her eyes were fixed on the office door. Jack nodded, resting his hand on the small of her back. They moved together back to the room Jack had slept in. Toshiko sat down in the armchair near the window and looked out with sad eyes. "It's so beautiful here…"

"Too beautiful." sneered Owen. Toshiko's eyes became steely as she looked at him.

"Are you just so cynical you can't imagine anyone being happy!"

Jack clapped a hand on Owen's shoulder, cutting off his nasty retort. "Look, if this is real, then we can't go back. But if it is a hoax or something, we need to figure out how it was done, and what they want… whoever they are."

"You think Ianto and Michaela are aliens?"

"Aliens, projections designed to mislead us… anything is possible."

"What might they want?"

"Information probably. If we think our knowledge is outdated, then we might be freer with sharing it. So… try to watch what you say."

Gwen nodded, perched on the edge of Jack's bed, her feet resting on the ottoman at the foot of the bed, holding the pad she'd been given like it was a lifeline on her knees. She looked like a little girl and Jack moved from Owen to sit down on the ottoman, by her feet and touched her shoe, covering the laces and feeling grounded by the connection.

"Why don't we all split up and read up on the history? We might be able to find inconsistencies in it to back up Owen's belief."

"What, you don't think I'm right?" asked Owen, hands tapping irritably at the pad in his grip.

"I… I don't know." admitted Jack. "I don't want to believe it. But there is… something about it that makes me think that they're hiding something. But that doesn't mean they're completely fake."

Owen gave a snort of disgust. He opened his mouth to say something, but there was a thump against the door. Jack jumped to his feet and reached for his Webley, which was not there. There was another thump against the door, but this time Jack heard it for what it really was. He sighed, a reluctant smile pulling at his lips as he went to the door and turned the handle. Quinn, who had been leaning against the door as he tried to reach the handle, stumbled into the room and looked up at Jack in surprise. His eyes were wide, as if he had not expected to be caught.

"Hey there Quinn." said Jack cheerfully, "Whatcha doing?"

Quinn dug one hand into his side while the other reached up and played with his hair. It always amused Jack how toddlers rarely stopped exploring the world and themselves with their hands, even when they stood still. It was how they gained their mobility, but it made Jack smile because it was the purest form of wide eyed fascination.

"Not spying on us were you?" asked Jack, joking when he spoke, but chilled a little that there might be a truth to it. Quinn shook his head, curls bouncing. "Then what is it?"

Quinn didn't say a thing. Instead he walked into the room, making his way over to Toshiko. Toshiko didn't say anything as Quinn clambered in to her lap, sitting happily with his back against her chest and cuddling close. Toshiko looked caught between being touched and being uncomfortable.

"Quinn!" Michaela's voice called for him, as she hurried past the door, then doubled-back. "Oh! Jack, have you seen-"

Jack pointed at Quinn, cutting her off. Michaela relaxed, smiling as she crossed the room, and reaching for Quinn.

"Sorry lads, Quinn likes new faces. Not shy at all, are you leanbh?"

Quinn smiled up at his mother and let her pick him and set him on her hip.

"It's ok," said Jack carefully, "He didn't bother us."

"Oh, just give him a few minutes, he'll find a way. This one has tried the Doctor's patience. Haven't you leanbh?" Michaela chucked at Quinn's cheek, making him giggle, "Drove him up the wall, didn't you?"

She looked around the room, seeming to notice that she was somewhat surrounded by them. She focused on Jack, her smile becoming a little fixed, "Are you lot hungry? I was going to start making lunch."

"We were actually going to browse through the history we've missed."

"Oh, the Recession, the Alien revelation and whatnot." Michaela nodded, hefting Quinn up. "Well, I'll leave some stuff for you to eat, how about that?"

"That'd be nice, thanks."

Michaela gave him a tense smile, "No bother." She left the room, Quinn letting out a whine of protest, peering over her shoulder at the four. Jack narrowed his eyes after her, then turned back to the others,

"C'mon. Let's catch up with what we've missed."

* * *

><p>Catching up on twenty years of history took a lot longer than Jack had expected. By the time he was satisfied with what he had read, it was late enough to be getting dark. He only noticed because he heard a car outside the house and glanced up in time to see a mini-bus pull up and the younger kids come running up the driveway.<p>

"Looks like school's out." said Gwen, watching them too.

"Will we go out and meet them?" asked Jack, straightening up and hearing his back crack.

"Why?" grunted Owen.

"Because if I have to stay in the same room as you any longer I may kill you." said Jack acidly. Owen looked up at him, scowling, then said,

"Fair point." He got to his feet, "C'mon, I'm starving anyway."

"I think I'll stay here." said Toshiko quietly, "I want to keep reading."

Jack nodded, understanding that she needed some time alone. Owen and Gwen went with him as they wandered down into the kitchen. Guinevere skipped around them, ducking her head to avoid their gaze as she past them in the hall. They could hear a crying child, it sounded like a young one. It was Christoffer, who was clinging onto Michaela's neck, as she crouched down in front of him and held him.

"It's ok Christoffer, it wasn't so bad, was it?" she cooed. Aiden, Deva and Taran were opening their school bags and setting their books on the kitchen table. Aiden spotted them first and hopped off his chair, running up to them.

"Can I help you Captain?" he asked, grinning up at him. Jack smiled and ruffled Aiden's hair,

"We just wanted to stretch our legs, maybe get something to eat."

"Is he ok?" asked Gwen, looking at Christoffer, who seemed inconsolable as Michaela tried to sooth him, although she wouldn't pick him up. Aiden glanced at them, then said in a soft whisper,

"Christoffer doesn't like nursery school. He misses mum and dad."

"Oh." Jack could tell Gwen didn't understand why Michaela wasn't picking Christoffer up and giving him the comfort he wanted. But Jack knew she was trying to teach him some independence without denying him love. It was a hard lesson to teach.

"Deva says he cries all day." said Aiden, shaking his head.

"Poor thing." said Gwen.

"Deva was the same." said Aiden. "The fridge is over there. I can get you something if you want."

"We can take a look ourselves, it's ok."

"Ok, solid." Aiden shrugged, then went back to the table. Deva was placing her colouring pencils in a particular order, making them lie in the colour spectrum. Jack made his way over to the fridge and pulled it open.

"Holy…"

The fridge was bigger on the inside! No… actually it was just much bigger than Jack had expected, but he supposed fifteen kids, plus servants, parents and God knows who else probably required a very well filled fridge.

"Stuff on the sixth shelf is for you guys." said Michaela absently as she unlocked Christoffer's arms from around her neck and held his upper body with her hands. "C'mon leanbh, no more tears, yeah? I know you miss us, and we miss you, but nursery is fun! You've got all the games… don't you like the games?"

Christoffer shook his head, sniffling, his nose running and his cheeks bright red. Michaela mirrored him, "No? You don't like the games?"

"He doesn't play with them." said Deva accusingly. "He just sits and cries all day."

Jack half wished he could bury his head in the vegetable tray and ignore the domestic situation. It was slightly easier to ignore when Ianto wasn't around, but Jack had known Michaela relatively well before, she and Ianto used to tag-team to browbeat Jack and Archie into doing their paperwork. She had been reserved, blunt and pragmatic, all of which meant that she and Ianto had gotten along very well.

Thinking about the cheerful, long conversations the two had had over the phone while they worked in Cardiff and Glasgow, Jack wondered how he had missed the attraction between them, because it had to be strong enough to explain the fifteen kids –Jack really did not care that it was fourteen pregnancies. But he had always thought they were just friends, as 21st century men and women considered friendship.

"Jack, unless you can feed by snorting food molecules, get your head out of the fridge and let us have a look!" snapped Owen, jolting him out of his musings. Jack took out the plate of cold chicken sandwiches and offered them to Gwen, who accepted two. Owen went for the tuna and sweetcorn sandwiches. They stood by the fridge and ate, reluctant to go and sit at the table, where the kids were doing homework. It was… too much like they were just accepting things.

Guinevere came skipping in, dressed in a pink princess costume, a plastic crown on her head, and fluffy mini-heels on her sock covered feet.

"Guinevere…" Michaela started, then she sighed and shook her head, "Ok, but you'd better get all your work done."

Guinevere nodded, tossed her long black hair over her shoulder and sat down at the desk. Michaela shook her head and said something about "If she marries an Arthur I will have Ianto's head."

As if summoned by magic, Ianto walked into the room, Quinn in his arms.

"Dydd da everyone." he said, setting Quinn on the floor. Quinn immediately ran over to Christoffer who was still sniffling and whimpering, although the crying had subsided, and bumped him, arms out. A slightly uncoordinated attempt at a bear hug.

"'Offer no cry." said Quinn. Christoffer looked at him, lower lip stuck out, face blotchy as Quinn tried again for a bear hug, "'Offer no cry!" said Quinn again. Michaela straightened up and edged away, taking advantage of the distraction. Christoffer noticed at once and burst into tears all over again. "'Offer no cry!" shouted Quinn, almost insulted by Christoffer's ignoring of him. Michaela threw Ianto a plaintive look, catching Jack's eye as she looked to her husband. She flushed pink at the cheeks and went to Christoffer, crouching down and putting her arms around him.

"Maybe I should go into nursery with him tomorrow." she said rubbing his back. Ianto shook his head, ruffling Aiden's hair as he moved to the table.

"It might make things worse."

"Well what else do you wanna do?" demanded Michaela, forcing her voice to stay calm, even though she was clearly frustrated. "It's been seven weeks."

"I'm aware of that." said Ianto calmly, the skin around his eyes pinching. "But if you go with him he'll expect you to go with him again."

"Well… maybe I will!"

Gwen coughed, making both parents look at her, as if remembering they were there. Michaela's blush deepened and she gave up, lifting Christoffer into her arms and holding him close. Christoffer quickly stopped crying and snuggled into her, dirty face pressed into her neck, arms forming a vice-like grip on her. Quinn stamped his foot, looking outraged at the situation.

"Daddy, look, I got a gold star in Welsh today!" said Guinevere, holding up her copybook. Ianto took the copybook from her, and his eyes flicked over the work. He smiled,

"Mae hyn yn dda iawn, merch. Yr wyf yn falch ohonoch chi. Llongyfarchiadau."

"Diolch yn fawr, daddy." Guinevere preened as Ianto pressed a kiss to her head. Aiden narrowed his eyes and then looked at Michaela.

"Mum! Chríochnaigh mé mo obair bhaile a thug tú dom." He held out some sheets to his mother.

"Maith an buachaill." said Michaela, smiling and taking the sheets. "Déanfaidh mé iad a cheartú i ndiaidh dinnéar."

Aiden grinned and then stuck his tongue out at Guinevere, who pulled at her face with her fingers in retaliation.

"Oi! Enough you two." said Ianto, resting a hand on each of their heads. "No competing for culture."

They nodded at their father, then glared at each other as Ianto moved around the table and bent over Deva.

"Whatcha up to, merch?"

Deva poked a finger at her colouring book. "Oh! Is that Princess Gretel from the Disney movie?" asked Ianto. His hands looked huge on her five year old shoulders. Deva nodded. "Deva, use words please." said Ianto.

"Yes." said Deva in a whisper.

"And that's her brother, is it?"

"Yes."

"What's his name?"

"Hansel?"

Deva's voice never rose above a whisper as she spoke. Ianto rubbed her shoulders and dropped a kiss on her head.

"Have you other homework?"

"Handwriting."

"Do you need help with it?"

Deva lifted her big green eyes up to her father, looking at him upside down and then she said,

"I'm alright."

Ianto gave her a small smile and kissed her brow, "Well if you need me, let me know."

"Quinn I see you!" said Michaela, chasing after him, Christoffer still clinging on to her body, as Quinn tried to sneak into garage. Quinn let out a pouty noise and leaned back against his mother's hand as she took his arm. Christoffer giggled at him as Quinn went limp, his weight pulling his mother into bending forward, which forced her to hold on tighter to Christoffer so he wouldn't fall. "Quinn, stop it!"

"No!"

Jack knew an oncoming tantrum when he saw it. So did Ianto apparently, because he moved across the kitchen, picked Quinn up and said,

"Quinn, behave, or you're going to the corner."

"Taran! You almost spilled on my homework!" complained Guinevere as Quinn tried to wriggle free from Ianto's grip.

"I did not!" shouted Taran.

"Yes you did!"

Michaela walked to the table, picked up the plastic cup and said, "Taran finish the drink and there'll be no more issues. You know there's no drinks at the table during homework hours."

"I was thirsty." complained Taran.

"Quinn, stop it!" said Ianto as Quinn kicked at him. Quinn's face was going red, and he was on the verge of a tantrum. "Right, that's it. The corner for you."

Quinn let out a bellow of displeasure. Christoffer hid his face in Michaela's neck again unlocking one hand to cover an ear. Deva's eyes followed Ianto as he carried Quinn out of the room. Aiden threw Jack, Gwen and Owen a mortified look, as if he was embarrassed at his brother's behaviour in their presence. Guinevere was smiling in triumph as Taran grudgingly finished his drink. Michaela took the cup, transferred it to the hand that was holding Christoffer up and then rested her hand on Taran's head for a few seconds, which seemed to soothe his ire somewhat. But when Michaela turned away to put the cup in the dishwasher, Guinevere and Taran pulled faces at each other.

"C'mon, lets get out of here." said Owen quietly.

Jack and Gwen put their now empty plates in the dishwasher and followed him. They wandered around the house, exploring the various rooms. In a sitting room with a giant flat screen TV embedded in the wall, Ianto was sitting on the couch, reading a book. Quinn was sitting on a small stool, facing the wall, sniffling and hiccupping. Ianto's old stopwatch was next to Ianto on the arm of the couch, ticking away the seconds. As they stuck their heads into the room, Ianto glanced up at them, smiled, then glanced down at the stopwatch. He picked it up and clicked it off, getting to his feet and walking across the room to Quinn, crouching down behind him.

"Two minutes are up Quinn, you can turn around now."

Quinn did so, sniffling loudly in the room. Ianto lifted him off the stool and held him by the arms as he said, "Ok?"

Quinn nodded, hiccupping. Ianto nodded, straightened up and walked across the room with Quinn, sat back down and lifted Quinn onto his lap, letting Quinn cuddle into his chest. He clicked the stopwatch again and sat back, arms around Quinn. Jack nudged the others into a retreat and shut the door.

"Poor baby." said Gwen sympathetically.

"Good method." said Owen reluctantly. "Two minutes on the stool, two minutes of hugging as a reassurance afterwards."

Jack nodded. His head was beginning to ache from all the domestic around him. He usually liked kids, but this was different. These were Ianto's kids, and there was a lot of them. It was disconcerting enough to have been thrown twenty years into the future, but all these kids was especially off putting.

And if this wasn't real, maybe that was the point. The kids could be a deliberate distraction, there to keep them so distracted they missed the attempts to extract information from them.

Taran came running out of the kitchen, clutching himself and dancing a little as he ran into a downstairs bathroom. Jack glanced into the kitchen at the kids doing their homework, and was surprised to find himself hoping that they weren't in on this. Even if there was a deception, they were rather sweet.

* * *

><p>I'm not a parent, and I have little hands on experience with kids, so I'm guessing at what's a good parenting technique and what isn't.<p>

So, do you believe it's real or not any more or less now?

Night's Darkness


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry for the delay, but I'm finding myself drifting from Torchwood at the moment. There's so much I'm disappointed in about the show, even the first two seasons, that it's making it hard for me to write anything about it.

Oh well… Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

For people who were run off their feet with offspring and work, Ianto and Michaela could cook. They had somehow managed to produce enough food for all twenty one of them, and it was good. Mashed potatoes, lettuce, boiled ham, nothing too elaborate, but it was tasty.

Jack, Gwen, Owen and Toshiko sat in the middle of the table, with Aiden next to Jack and Eoin next to Toshiko. Shannon and Jacque were across from Jack and were both giving him broad, cheeky smiles. Leeza sat as far away from her mother as she could, Jack had seen her watching where Michaela would sit before selecting her own. Archer was next to his mother. Both had bumped younger siblings aside to gain their seats. Jack was intrigued.

The meal was loud, with the kids talking over each other to their parents and to themselves. None of them forgot to set down their cutlery and sign their words, to keep Jacque involved. Jacque actually did a lot of talking himself, sending his siblings into fits of giggles with whatever he was saying. Jack regretted that he had never learnt BSL in all his time on Earth now that he needed it. He had a sneaking suspicion Jacque was making at least a few jokes at their expense.

"Leeza, how was school?" asked Michaela as the chatter quieted and the kids really tucked into their dinner.

"Fine." said Leeza shortly, not even looking at her mum. Michaela's smile faltered. Ianto glanced at his wife, then said,

"How are you coming along with your studying for the A-levels?"

Leeza looked at her dad with affection, "Good, I think I need to focus a bit more on the Environmental Laws that were passed a couple of years ago."

"You're studying law?" asked Gwen, who seemed to have calmed enough to talk to the children. Lisa nodded,

"I want to be a Politician. I like Politics." The biting way she said it, and the way her eyes turned on her mum, suggested there was some contention between them about it.

"I suppose since aliens are public knowledge now, having parents in Torchwood will give you an edge."

"Dad's let me meet a couple of aliens and shadow him when he negotiates with them."

"Wow. Big stuff!" said Gwen with wide eyes. Leeza nodded, smirking. Jack looked between her and Michaela, then looked at Archer who was glowering at Leeza. He decided to poke.

"What about you Archer? You're doing your A-levels soon, aren't you?"

"Next year." said Archer, "I'm studying Human Biology and Psychology."

"What do you want to do?"

"Medicine, specifically obstetrics." As Archer said this he turned to his mother for her approval, which she gave with a smile. Well, thought Jack, that put the eldest in their camps. Leeza was a Daddy's girl, even if she wasn't as obvious about it as Archer was about being a Mummy's boy. He wondered if the rest were so obvious in their preference.

"Obstetrics, that's a lovely idea." said Gwen, smiling. Owen grunted,

"You've never seen a woman in labour."

Archer smirked at Owen, "I have actually. I helped deliver Aiden."

Gwen's mouth fell open and Owen looked torn between being horrified and impressed. Michaela flushed and Ianto coughed. Aiden grinned at his big brother.

"But… what were you? Ten?" asked Owen.

"Nine." said Archer with a shrug.

"Mab, I don't know if this is the best time for that story." said Ianto quietly. Archer flushed and bit his lip.

"Sorry."

Michaela, still blushing, patted his arm. "It's ok. Just… not at the dinner table."

Archer nodded and dropped his chin in embarrassment, prodding at his food.

"So… what do the rest of you want to be when you grow up?" asked Toshiko, smiling around the table.

"I'm gonna be a vet!" said Erin. This wasn't the least bit surprising, considering she had come in, done her homework and then spent the rest of the evening outside with the animals.

"I want to be an Astronaut." said Georgina with a dreamy smile. "I want to travel the universe."

Jack was about to joke that she could just ask the Doctor, but saw Ianto and Michaela both giving him a look that told him he would be soundly destroyed if he did. He supposed the last thing the two needed was their kids trying to sneak inside the TARDIS to hitchhike across time and space.

Jacque gestured and then grinned. Jack frowned, but Aiden said aloud, "Who's Hugh Hefner?"

Ianto grimaced and shook his head as Jacque gave Gwen a winning smile. Owen started sniggering into his drink, while Michaela rubbed her forehead and said quietly,

"It's like the name itself is the cause."

Archer laughed, while Jack wasn't sure if he should grin or not.

"I'm gonna be an archaeologist." said Shannon, "Just like River."

Jack was beginning to wonder just who this River person was.

"What about you Guinevere?" asked Gwen, smiling at her namesake. Guinevere tossed her hair over her shoulder, drawing her head up,

"I'm going to be a ballet dancer. I'm already really good."

"Oh I did ballet when I was your age, I loved it too." said Gwen.

"I'm in Grade 3."

"Wow. I went to Grade 4, but when I tried the pointe shoes, I decided I didn't want to keep it up."

"You're not meant to wear them until Grade 5."

Gwen nodded, "My teacher wanted me to try them on, to see if I wanted to keep going. I didn't like them."

"So you quit." said Toshi shortly. Gwen's smile faltered,

"Well… yes. I'd had enough."

"I'll never stop dancing." said Guinevere arrogantly, "I'm going to be as good as Anna Pavlova. And then Prince James will want to marry me."

"No he won't." said Aiden, shaking his head derisively, "Why would he?"

"Because he'll think I'm a princess, because I'm so pretty in my dress."

Jack vaguely recalled from his earlier reading that Prince James was the third child of Prince William and his wife, grandson to King Charles III. He was almost twelve, and had inherited his paternal grandmother's beauty as well as his mother's. Aiden snorted,

"You look like an elephant."

Guinevere's cheeks flushed, "I do not! Take that back."

"Make me."

"Guinevere. Aiden." said Michaela in a warning tone.

"He's being mean mum." said Guinevere.

"She's being stupid." retorted Aiden.

"Enough, the pair of you. Aiden, Guinevere does not look like an elephant. Guinevere, don't let him wind you up."

Both children looked mutinous for a moment, then sulkily went back to their meals. In the silence, Christoffer clambered down off his chair and went to Michaela, pulling himself into her lap. Michaela sighed and helped him sit properly, wrapping one arm around him as she kept eating. Christoffer rested his head on her chest and cuddled close.

"Freda, how was cello?" asked Ianto. As Freda began to answer, Jack watched Michaela carefully. She was throwing him and the others furtive glances every now and then. It made Jack wonder just what she was trying to hide.

* * *

><p>Over the course of a week Jack and the others settled into the hectic rhythms of Ianto's life. They met the various housekeepers and Quinn's nanny, Andrea. They explored the huge house and found their own places of refuge. Toshiko liked the book room, which was basically a library that the family had built up over the years. Owen preferred the study, where he could surf the internet on the three screened computer, so he could study the various medical developments that had occurred. Gwen found herself drawn to hanging out with Andrea and Quinn, playing with the toddler.<p>

As for Jack, he found himself wandering the large grounds of the house. He had gone to the stables and met Wayna, a fifty year old man of Native American ancestry, who spoke little beyond warning Jack not to make any wisecracks about his ethnicity and his job. Jack had agreed easily, regretting that he was too distracted by his situation that he couldn't waste energy admiring the very handsome man. Embarr, Michaela's horse, was a fiery beauty, tall, proud and haughty. Jack would have loved to take him for a ride, but he was reluctant to go far from his team. Even letting them out of his sight was a bit nerve wrecking at the moment.

Saturday arrived and Michaela and Ianto were at home, spending the weekends with their children.

"We made an arrangement with our highest ranking staff. Since only a couple of them have children, they don't mind running point on weekends for us, so unless there's a serious problem, we can actually be around for them." explained Ianto as he sat down at the kitchen table in his dressing gown, passing them all cups of his coffee. That, at least, hadn't changed.

"Suppose that's a benefit to having so many employees, you get humane work hours." said Gwen, cuddling a sleepy Quinn in her lap. Ianto grinned and nodded,

"These days I don't really know how I survived those constant long hours."

"Maybe you're just getting lazy." said Jack wryly. Ianto shrugged,

"Maybe. Or just selfish enough to have a life." He smirked at Jack and Jack tried to ignore the pull in his gut that made him want to jump him.

"So… how do you guys handle holidays with so many?" asked Toshiko, "I've been wondering for a while."

"You mean like going to other countries?"

"Yes."

"We have a private jet that we use officially for travelling to UN meetings and stuff like that, and we use it to take the kids away too. We went to Venice last year –never again though. Had to tie a leash around the younger ones to stop them from falling into the canals." Ianto shook his head. "Next time, we'll go somewhere where there isn't a constant issue of drowning."

"So avoid the coast." said Gwen. Ianto nodded, widening his eyes in certainty, then after a moment, asked,

"So… what do you guys want to do today?"

"Us?"

Ianto shrugged, "Well you guys have been here a week, and you've not left the house really. And that's fine, you needed time to adjust, but if you wanted you could go shopping, I'm sure you'd like new clothes that you pick out for yourselves –for the record I have been informed that Steampunk is back in."

Toshiko giggled.

"Don't we need ?" asked Owen acidly.

"We have them ready for you, except your names, you still need to pick them. But once you do that, we can have the here in less than an hour, along with credit cards that are attached to accounts with more than enough money to buy yourselves whole new wardrobes."

"You said all our stuff was in storage."

"And it is. But your clothes would be quite… outdated now." Ianto shrugged, "I mean… if you want you can get them, but maybe it'd be good for you to go out and see the real world. I know you've all been learning about it, but you probably need to experience it."

"… I suppose so." said Toshiko slowly.

"Good. I'll take you."

Jack nodded without saying anything.

"So. Names." prompted Ianto, "C'mon, haven't you ever thought about changing your name?"

"No." said Owen shortly.

Ianto sighed, "Owen, I know you're unhappy, but I'm sorry, you're just going to have to accept it. Now, pick a name, or I'll do it for you."

"I wouldn't know what to pick." saidToshikoquietly.

"What about Naoko? It means something similar to Toshiko. 'Valued child' or something, doesn't it?" Ianto offered. Toshiko shook her head,

"No… doesn't feel right."

"Well, obviously you don't need to pick a Japanese name if you don't want to. Britain's so multicultural we have welsh children given Swahili names. And of course, celebrities are still naming their kids weird names. Blue Apple or whatever."

Toshiko giggled, then said, "I think I would like to stick with a Japanese name."

"Of course."

Toshiko narrowed her eyes, then said, "What about my surname?"

"That has to change too I'm afraid."

Toshiko hesitated, looking unsure. Ianto smiled at her and picked up her pad that she always carried with her.

"One of our other temporally displaced people used a random generator to determine their name. But the trick was she made it generate again and again until it brought up something she liked but might not have thought of herself. Why don't you do that?"

Toshiko looked relieved and accepted the pad back, starting to run through the programme.

"Ayano Yoshida… no. Kyou Miyamoto… no."

"What about the rest of you? Gwen?"

Gwen swallowed and then said, "I've always liked the name Rita, you know, like Rita Hayworth. I thought she was so beautiful in her movies."

"Rita… should be fine. Rita what?"

"Oh… I don't know, Kendrick?"

"Rita Kendrick?" Ianto repeated. Gwen looked at Jack for help. He shrugged, it wasn't a bad name, although it seemed a bit old fashioned to him. "Ok. What about you Jack?"

"James Harper." said Jack at once. Ianto gave him a patronising look, but didn't comment.

"Ok, and Owen?"

Owen scowled, but shrugged, "I dunno."

"What about Eugene, that's the English equivalent." Ianto had a wicked grin on his face. Owen growled,

"No thanks."

"Ok… how about Ewan. Like Ewan McGregor."

"Ewan…" Owen frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe…"

"Or you could go for something unrelated. Like Dick."

Gwen giggled as Owen gave Ianto such a murderous look it was a wonder Ianto didn't burst into flames. He sniffed imperiously then said, "What names mean something cool? Like… heroic."

Ianto had to bite on a smile, but then said, "Bilbo."

"Oh fuck off!"

"What, it's true." Ianto laughed, pushing away from the table as Owen got to his feet, ready to storm out. "Ok, ok, come back. I'm sorry. I would offer James, but that's already gone. Why don't we go with Ewan. Ewan… Benton?"

"Benton?"

Ianto shrugged, "Off the top of my head."

Owen considered it, then said slowly, "Ewan Benton… Ewan Benton… ok, ok yeah. I guess that'll do."

"Ok, so Rita Kendrick, James Harper, Ewan Benton and…"

"Mika. Mika Fujimoto." said Toshiko decisively.

"Mika Fujimoto. Brilliant. I'll make the call."

As Ianto walked out of the kitchen, Michaela came in, wearing a pink silk dressing gown. "Ah, morning." said Ianto, kissing her cheek.

"Mornin'" she mumbled, squeezing his arm as she repressed a yawn. "Quinn up?"

Ianto gestured to Gwen who was still holding him. Michaela's expression tightened minutely but then she smiled,

"Great."

"I'm just going to order the I.D. cards."

"Names picked then?"

"Yup, say hello to Rita Kendrick, James Harper, Ewan Benton and Mika Fujimoto." Ianto threw the four a grin.

"Nice choices." Michaela's smile became more genuine as she moved to the coffee machine, pouring herself a cup while Ianto walked out of the room. "So, what're you doing today?"

"Ianto's going to take us clothes shopping." said Gwen, bouncing Quinn on her knee. Michaela seemed to stiffened a little, then she nodded,

"Is he now?"

"Yeah. Apparently we need to catch up with the trends."

"Yeah… twenty years is an eternity in fashion." said Michaela slowly, setting down her cup and walking to the table, reaching out and taking Quinn from Gwen. "Hello leanbh. Sleep well?"

Quinn groaned and rested his head on her shoulder, looking ready to settle back into sleep. Michaela set him on her hip and went back to her coffee. Gwen looked put out at the abrupt loss, but said nothing about it, instead saying, "Any recommendations for me and Tosh?"

Michaela looked at her seeming thrown by the question, then Jack saw her relax a little and said, "Well… from what I've heard bright colours are in at the moment. Oh, and in the last few years, cloaks have been replacing coats, especially for women. They're actually really comfy and more practical than you'd think. You don't look like you've been visiting Hogwarts or anything."

"Ok… Ianto said something about Steampunk…"

Michaela snorted, "Only for people Leeza's age. Not for adults. You know teenagers can get away with anything."

"Is public nudity any closer to existence?" asked Jack with a smirk. Michaela flushed and pressed her cheek to Quinn's head.

"Nope. In fact the usual reversal of fashion has meant that we've gone from the scantily clad trends with layers of fake tan replaced with more covering up and pale skin coming back. Plus, because of aliens, people are trying to… enhance their humanity."

"How'd you mean?"

"You'll see. But mostly there's been a sort of… decision to celebrate the human body… in its natural form."

"And they do that by covering up?"

Michaela shrugged, "I'm just repeating stuff I've heard on the tv, I don't have much interest in fashion beyond what fits me. With fourteen pregnancies, my figure was in an out so much, I kinda gave up and just tried to find things that looked nice on me."

Jack glanced at the silk dressing robe and wondered if she was wearing it because of them. He had noticed that from the first day of their arrival, Michaela seemed to be wearing nicer clothes and have better hair with each passing day. He had to admit, she looked quite attractive in the dressing gown, in a soft, maternal way.

Ianto came back, breaking his thoughts.

"Right! All sorted. They'll be here in an hour."

"Good." said Michaela quietly, "Ianto, have you forgotten the date?"

"The date?" Ianto repeated in confusion, then his face cleared, "Oh… yeah."

"Yep." said Michaela staring straight at him. Ianto was quiet for a moment, then said quickly,

"We'll be back in time for that."

"Ok." said Michaela without conviction, "Just don't forget."

"I won't! It's not until this evening."

"I know… but I just wanted to remind you."

The couple stared at each other, annoyance bubbling under the surface. Jack found himself watching it with quiet pleasure. Finally, Michaela broke the stare, and said,

"I'd better get this one dressed, and the rest up and about. See you guys later."

"Bye." said Gwen and Toshiko quietly.

Ianto watched her go, then he caught Jack's eye. They stared at each other for a long moment, then Ianto looked away.

But unless Jack was mistaken, and in this he rarely was, he had seen what Ianto had tried to hide.

Desire.

That quiet pleasure began to get louder.

* * *

><p>Think the names work? I really wasn't sure what to pick. Also, I'm very bad at fashion so I had to guess at what might be popular in the future.<p>

Night's Darkness


	9. Chapter 9

**To all readers:** So… it's been a long time since my last update, three months I think… or maybe more. The reason? Well… a number of things. Personal stuff's been going on, which has been one factor. But the big one? Well, honestly, I know I've been saying this for a while, but right now, Torchwood holds very little interest for me. I still enjoy reading fic, but the effort of sitting down and writing a long story –which is my preferred type of story –is just too great for me right story had a plan, and that plan is still there… however my enthusiasm is not. BUT this does not mean I won't finish it, I still want to finish it, I still like this story, even if I'm very 'meh' about the show.

Bottom Line: I want to finish it, as of right now I plan to finish it, but it may take some time. I know how frustrating it is to wait for a story to be updated and nothing happens for months, especially if you don't know why it's not been updated. So I'm letting you know out of respect and sincere appreciation for your continued reading just why I've been so bad with my updating. This all applies to my other story, Salvation's Tears, as well.

I'm very sorry about this, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter in the meantime.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

Ianto took them in the mini-bus to the shopping centre. It was a quiet trip, with Jack's eyes roaming around the landscape and taking in all that had changed. The 'Menagerie House' was on the outskirts of the Cardiff area. It would have to be to accommodate the sheer size of it, and the grounds. But to Jack's surprise they were in the city within about ten minutes.

"Did you design your house?"

"Yep." said Ianto, "When Leeza was born we had moved into a four bedroom house, in the nearest suburb to Torchwood. We stayed when Archer came along –I think if we had moved when he was on the way Leeza would have completely driven us mad."

"What'd you mean?" asked Gwen.

"Leeza did not like Archer being on the way. She threw tantrums, broke toys, really put us through hell."

"But she warmed up to him when he was born?" Gwen said as if that was perfectly logical.

"… not exactly. I think she got used to him, and eventually she warmed up to him. But it wasn't easy."

"And… what about when you had Toshi?" asked Toshiko.

"Same problem. Archer was only one, she was four. And then she suddenly changed around the time Eoin came along. She wanted to hold him when he was born, she wanted to help bathe him –I hate to say it, but I may have kid's tv for pushing the idea that girls should like babies for brainwashing her." Ianto gave a wry grin.

"So when did you move?"

"When Jacque was on the way. We wanted a big house, so we decided that we would build huge. I think by then we'd gotten it into our heads that we wanted a big family."

"Ianto… a big family is six kids. You have fifteen. There's no word in the dictionary strong enough to encompass that number." said Owen. Ianto chuckled as he turned off the motorway and drove into what Jack realised was Cardiff city, almost exactly as it had been the last time he had been there. There were buildings that looked new, ones he did not recognise. But there were many he did, like South Gate House, then the Millennium Stadium. He pulled up near the Bay and said,

"Do you want to take a look?"

Jack's stomach dropped and he looked at the others. Gwen shook her head, Toshiko swallowed and schooled her features, and Owen scowled. He swallowed and looked back at Ianto, whose face was calm and unassuming. He shook his head,

"Not today. Some other time."

"Ok, your call." Ianto turned the car back on and pulled out onto the road again. He pulled into a car park near St. David's Centre and they walked into it. After they passed through the door, Gwen came to a halt.

"Gwen?"

"It… doesn't look all that different." she said quietly. Ianto put his arm around her and said,

"Twenty years isn't that long a time. There may be some styles and shops you won't recognise, but the world hasn't changed much."

"No… just enough to fuck up my life." Gwen spat. Ianto sighed,

"I'm sorry Gwen, I wish I could make it easier. But you just have to push forward."

Gwen swallowed and nodded, looking like she had just swallowed a bitter lemon. "Ok. Ok."

She drew herself up, and stepped forward, linking arms with Toshiko. The two women led the way into the shop and the men followed.

They ended up going into a shop that catered for both sexes so they would not have to break up. Jack discovered that clothing really had no changed much either. Bright colours were in, and he was amused to see that small children looked more like small children than they had when they had left, when he had noticed they tended to look more like older children in their clothes. Jack wasted no time in finding blue shirts, white T-shirts and brown trousers. He looked up to find Ianto leaning on a stand and watching him with fond amusement.

"Really? Not even going to think of looking at anything else?"

"Hey, if it ain't broke-"

"Things don't always have to break to require an update." Ianto smirked, "A car for instance. A computer. A haircut."

Jack touched his hair, "You trying to say something?"

"Oh no… that floppy Leonardo Di Caprio in Titanic hair style still works for you. Just an observation on the occasional necessity of change."

Jack ruffled his hair and gave his best grin. "It does go with the jawline, doesn't it?"

"Absolutely." Ianto nodded, his face utterly deadpan and his eyes full of amusement. Jack had half a mind to grab him and have his way with him in the dressing room behind him. Then Gwen came over holding an armful of clothing,

"What do you think of this leather jacket?"

Ianto took it from her and examined it, then shook his head, "Too chunky, you need one that hugs those curves of yours."

"Ianto!" Gwen looked astonished as his boldness.

Ianto grinned, "What? I'm married, not dead."

Jack's smile fell at once. Right. Married. With all the 21st century expectations and taboos that came with it.

"Come on Gwen, I'll help you find a better one. I know there's a great shop around here that might do better." Ianto offered Gwen his arm and she took it as the two walked away. "Jack, you coming or staying?"

Jack sighed and looked down at the bundle of blue shirts in his arms, then he looked up.

"I'm gonna look around, see if I like anything new. Maybe a change would be good."

Ianto smiled at him and nodded, "Ok. You've got your phone."

Jack waved the small, slim computer that called itself a phone at him. "Yep!"

Gwen gave him a shy wave and they hurried away to the women's section. Jack looked at the shirts again, then set them down.

New time, new life, new Ianto, new clothes.

If only it were that simple.

* * *

><p>"So you're telling us that we don't have holodecks yet."<p>

"No Owen, we don't. Once again, it's only been 20 years. Closest we've got is the new 4D cinemas."

"What's the 4th dimension?"

"Smell –actually works pretty well. They reedited Jurassic Park, and so when they're among the piles of shit, you almost gag the smell is so strong. Plus, the new films project on the other walls so if a character is walking down a street, the street moves past you, and with the 3D glasses it works pretty well. It doesn't always work, but it's something new." Ianto sipped his coffee and then said, "The Disney films have been great lately, which is a real blessing because everyone can enjoy them, from Quinn to Leeza and us."

"Can I ask you a question?" Gwen said delicately.

"Sure."

"I was wondering, since you seem to have named a lot of your kids after other people, like Guinevere, Toshi, Eoin and Jacque, who did you name the others for?"

"Well, Leeza was for Lisa, obviously, and Archer was for Archie. Then Toshi and Eoin came along and we felt the names suited them. Freda and Georgina, Leeza picked those names. She was addicted to Harry Potter –the series got a resurgence when J.K. Rowling began a new series –and when we told her Michaela was having twins, she immediately said they had to be boys and called Fred and George. We couldn't change her mind, and we didn't want her to feel we weren't letting her be involved after so long trying to get her to warm to her siblings. She was very upset when they turned out to be girls."

"Did you know before they were born?"

"Not from the scan, but I've always known what we're having just instinctively. Plus after a while, you can tell a boy bump from a girl bump."

"No you can't." said Owen, "Without an ultrasound it's impossible."

"No it isn't, trust me. Boy bumps are neat, and girl bumps are not. Michaela always looked her best when she was carrying a boy." Ianto's eyes glazed for a second as he obviously remembered with some pleasure. Jack figured he would need to find a pregnant woman sexy or he would have been very miserable. "Anyway, when Leeza heard they were girls, she got upset, but Michaela said that we could still call them after the Weasley twins, but just girl versions of them. It satisfied her, thankfully. So that's Freda and Georgina."

"Why Jacque? Why not Jacob or John?"

"He was conceived in France. Plus Jacob's too old fashioned and I was not naming any child of mine John."

Gwen, Toshiko and Owen nodded in perfect understanding. They all remembered Jack's ex with distaste.

"Erin was obviously named for Michaela's country, since we live in Wales, Michaela wanted to make sure they have some Irish language and culture in them. I think she got very homesick that year. Shannon was named after River, a friend of ours, because they were both conceived in the TARDIS, and so they have a lot in common. River is Shannon's godmother. And the Doctor is her godfather."

"And then you had Guievere."

"She was born with this mass of dark hair and I just knew she had to be named for you." Ianto smiled at Gwen who flushed and smiled.

"Christoffer was named in honour of Elisa, our head of security. She was one of the first people we hired on, and she's always been great. Elisa's from Finland, and she picked the name so that's why it's not spelt in the English way. Taran was born during this massive thunderstorm caused by Rift activity, so we called him 'Thunder'. Deva was named in honour of a friend who died during the 2nd Dalek invasion in '22. Quinn was… well we were very lazy with Quinn's name, but it seemed funny at the time. We called him Quinn after Quindecim, fifteen in Latin."

"What about Aiden?"

Ianto cleared his throat, looking slightly uncomfortable, "Aiden was named by Archer, he picked the name because it means fire. See… remember Archer said he delivered Aiden?"

"Yeah."

"Well what happened was he and Michaela had gone out with Erin, Shannon and Guinevere. Michaela was about eight months along at this stage. They went to the Natural History Museum for some project of Archer's. There was an earthquake and some of the museum collapse, and they were trapped in a small area of the museum. Michaela was hurt trying to protect the kids and the shock sent her into labour. That would have been bad enough, but a fire started not far from them, so there was a real danger that they would be killed by that, even though they were mostly unharmed by the collapse in the museum."

"God, you must have been terrified for them!" Gwen squeezed his arm.

"I didn't know they were there." Ianto sighed, "I was running around trying to contain the shit the Rift had spit out and had no idea they were in danger. I only found out when I got a call from Dotty in a panic saying Michaela's name had been flagged in the hospital system."

"And everyone was ok?"

"Yeah, Archer had done what Michaela said, and Aiden was fine if a bit small. But he was strong, just like the rest of them. The only birth I've actually missed."

Toshiko went to say something when there was a soft, "Excuse me."

They looked around and saw a young teenage girl standing there quivering with nervousness and a wide smile on her face.

"Sorry, but are you Ianto Jones?"

Ianto smiled, a little flush in his cheeks as he nodded, "I am."

The girl did a little hop of excitement and said, "Oh my god! It is so solid to meet you! I think you are amazing, what you do for the world is, like, the best thing ever!"

"Thank you." said Ianto. He was clearly used to this, but still very embarrassed. It didn't help that the girl was pushing close to him and batting her eyelashes.

"Can I get your autograph?"

Jack watched with some amusement as Ianto scribbled his name on a piece of paper for her and gave it back.

"If you want-" Owen piped up with a wicked grin, "I could take a photo of the two of you."

"Oh my god that would be amazing!" squealed the girl. Ianto threw Owen a death look but did not refuse as she gave Owen her phone and threw her arms around Ianto, cuddling close to him. Ianto put a careful arm around her shoulders and smiled long enough for the picture to be taken, and then pulled away. The girl took the phone back, squealed with delight, thanked them and bounced away to her friends who were all looking incredibly jealous.

Ianto looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up.

"That was embarrassing."

"That was so cute." laughed Gwen, "She treated you like a celebrity."

"Well he sort of is. Like a politician and hero in one." said Toshiko with a little smile. "He's the face of Torchwood, and Torchwood protects the world."

"That would make most girls want to hump him." said Owen crudely.

"Shut up Owen. That girl is younger than Leeza, for god's sake she's Freda and Georgina's age!" Ianto shuddered at the idea. Behind him, the girls were giggling and watching him intently, admiring him. Actually, as Jack glanced around, he noticed a lot of people were watching Ianto, openly fascinated by his movements, even though he was just sitting in a café drinking coffee with some unknown people. Jack realised that Ianto was not only an important person in saving the world, the world actually knew it and admired him for it. As they should. But it unsettled Jack, who was used to working in the shadows and never getting acknowledged for the work he did.

"So!" Ianto pushed to change the subject. "What do you think you'll do with yourselves now?"

"You mean do we want to work for Torchwood or not?" asked Gwen. Ianto nodded.

"Well, you being the boss would be a pain in the arse." said Owen. "On the other hand… I don't particularly fancy going back to working in a hospital. And if we'd get better hours, I suppose the job would be better than before."

"You'd need to be retrained in everything by my staff." Ianto warned, "I can't just give you a job."

Owen nodded, scowling but he said nothing.

"You guys do have another option. You all have a good bit of money, really, you don't need to work for money. So I suppose you have to decide if there's anything you'd rather do than work in Torchwood."

Jack felt the wind fly out of his chest. All he had known was Torchwood for over a century. The idea of not being a part of it was like losing a limb. But before he could say anything, Ianto glanced at his watch.

"Oh shit! We have to go."

"Why?"

"I promised I'd be home in time. It's Disney day! Shit, shit, shit!" Ianto pulled on his jacket and ushered them along.

"Disney Day?"

"Every third Saturday we all get together and watch a Disney film. I've never missed one, and I'll be damned if I miss it today."

They chased after Ianto, bags weighing them down, as they went back to the car and clambered in. Ianto drove as fast as he dared through Cardiff and out towards the Menagerie House. He pulled messily into the garage and leapt out of the car, leaving them behind. They followed slowly after him, put their bags in the hall and went into the sitting room.

The fifteen children took up most of the room, some lying on the floor, others on the couches. Ianto was lifting Quinn up so he could sit next to his wife, who was silently watching him with a distinctly unimpressed look. Ianto set Quinn in his lap, and asked in a loud, cheerful voice,

"So, which one is it this week?"

"Well it's Jacque's turn, so guess." said Michaela, trying to settle Christoffer into a more comfortable position.

"Ah… Up?"

"No."

"Oh, Monsters Inc?"

"Correct."

"Great. No traumas tonight about Bambi's mum or Simba's dad."

"Not this week. But next week it's Erin."

"Are you lot going to stand there or what?" demanded Freda, watching Jack and the others hovering by the door.

"We don't want to intrude." said Gwen carefully.

"Come and sit with me Auntie Gwen!" Guinevere beckoned her over. She was wearing a long golden dress and a tall cone with silk coming out the top. Jacque scurried over to the door and offered Toshiko his arm, putting his other arm behind his back and grinning up at her flirtatiously. Toshiko smiled and accepted the arm, leading the others into the room. Jack sat down next to Ianto, in the last free space on the big couch. Owen got a low recliner chair on the floor, and Taran gave up his seat for Toshiko.

About half an hour into the movie, Jack glanced at Ianto, who looked at him and smiled. Jack grinned back, then noticed the stony expression on Michaela's face. She wasn't looking at them, but she was clearly aware of them, even as she rubbed Christoffer's tummy in idle circles that were causing the child to nod off. Guinevere had taken her cone hat off and was now resting her head on Gwen's knee. Leeza looked like she was trying to stay cranky, but was failing because she was enjoying the film.

As he looked around, Jack realised he was resting the back of his hand against Ianto's thigh. He looked at it and then back up at Ianto who was holding Quinn to him and rubbing his cheek against Quinn's hair as he chuckled at the film. Jack moved his hand, and Ianto did not seem to notice.

Jack sighed, feeling more out of place than ever.

It just wasn't fair.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 **

Jack woke early on the Sunday morning and got up, changing into his new clothes, which looked exactly like his old ones. He had chickened out at the shops, going for the old familiar. He wandered down into the kitchen, smelling Ianto coffee. Maybe he would get a chance to talk to him alone.

His hopeful spring in his step died quickly when he rounded the door and found Michaela pouring the coffee and singing some song he did not know to herself. He quickly ducked back behind the door and peered around, watching her for a few moments. If he ignored that she was married to Ianto, he could remember that he had thought her very cute, like a puppy or kitten, quiet and innocent. Really he had been confused about why Archie had hired her, she never seemed the right personality to be part of Torchwood. And yet here she was, now running the organisation with Ianto, like they were a golden couple. Jack paused as he realised he had no idea what she actually did within the organisation, if Ianto was the face of it, he probably made all the decisions. So what did she do between maternity leaves?

Jack shook his head, surprised by his own snide thoughts. He was not a jealous man by nature, well, in terms of getting upset over a person's happiness. He could be envious, wishing he could have it too, but never at the expense of the person who had it.

In a normal situation what Jack might have done was tested the waters to see if there was room for him in the couple, even for a night of fun and games. And really, why shouldn't he try that now? He was sure Ianto would be up for it, and Michaela had never been immune to his charms, blushing and biting her lip to hide her giggly smile when he had flirted with her. His one rule was that no one got hurt, and surely they would only agree if that was a certainty.

There was no harm in trying.

Michaela sipped at her coffee from a brightly painted mug one of the kids probably had made for her and sat down at the table. She lifted a tablet and started reading something, probably the newspaper.

Jack inhaled and stepped into the kitchen, smiling at her.

"Morning."

Michaela jumped and looked up at him. "Oh! Morning. Didn't hear you coming down the stairs."

"I'm like a panther, never hear me coming. Remember?" Jack winked at her. Michaela flushed and a reluctant smile appeared on her lips,

"Yes, I remember. You cost me two months worth of my salary for that joke."

Jack grinned, remembering how, at a conference before Canary Warf had fallen, Jack had snuck up behind her and scared her so bad she had spilled her drink all over Yvonne Hartman's fancy suit.

"Ah, but wasn't the look on her face worth it?"

Michaela chuckled and shrugged, "Maybe. I remember being terrified and wanting the ground to swallow me up."

"Yeah, you were bright red… it was a cute look on you."

Michaela snorted, sipping at her coffee, "Cute? God, I haven't been called cute in years."

"Really?" Jack was surprised, "You've still got those cute dimply cheeks."

Michaela blushed and touched her cheek, looking shy. "No one notices my cheeks, unless they look chubby. They're far more interested in my waistline and my wardrobe disasters."

Jack furrowed his brow in confusion. Michaela shrugged, "The world hasn't changed when it comes to being critical of women's looks. It's why we decided Ianto should be the face of Torchwood."

Jack stared at her in confusion and she sighed, "Because he's a tall, stunningly handsome man who manages to balance a large family with saving the world and being reasonable about all things while doing it, with a hint of angst and brooding and I'm just the fat, frumpy housewife who doesn't see her kids enough because she's got a career, which she probably isn't that good at because she's got fifteen kids taking up all her time."

Jack blinked hard and raised an eyebrow, "Ouch."

Michaela shrugged, "The world wouldn't feel comfortable if I was the one talking to the press, Ianto's far more appealing to them. Men are far more reassuring in a defensive role, especially if they're handsome. Do you really think the franchise would have worked as well if it had been Jane Bond? How would that have turned the evil lesbians to the side of heterosexual good?"

Jack shook his head, "This world…"

Michaela shrugged again, "It's all we got for the moment. And my kids live here, might as well protect it." She gave him a wry smirk and Jack chuckled. She lifted her cup, "Coffee?"

"I got it." Jack got to his feet and went to the cupboard. He grabbed one of the many generic mugs and poured himself some coffee, then he came back to his seat. He sipped at it and sighed in bliss, "Ah, Ianto coffee."

"No, just a poor imitation." Michaela sipped at it and shook her head, "I can never get it quite right."

"You made this?"

"I wasn't about to wake Ianto for it, he needs his sleep."

"And you don't?"

"Doesn't matter when I go to bed, I'm always up at 6am. After fifteen kids and working for Torchwood for…' She counted on her fingers, "Twenty four years, I've learned to live without sleep."

"It's a skill." Jack agreed. "I'm much the same."

Michaela proffered her cup, "To enduring insomniacs."

Jack chuckled and clinked his cup to hers. They sipped and Jack felt a little better, as if he had made some sort of progress. It was the first time Michaela had seemed relaxed around him. There was the sound of raindrops hitting the window and Michaela twisted to look outside. As she did her silky dressing gown opened at the front, exposing her cleavage a little and Jack's eyes dropped to admire the swell.

"Oh great, bloody weather channel got it wrong as usual. Said it was going to be nice today." Michaela sighed, turning back. Jack quickly looked at her face, and she did not seem to notice her dressing gown was open as she said, "I was hoping I could take the kids out for a ride with Ianto."

"Might clear up." said Jack.

"With those clouds?" Michaela jerked her thumb at the sky. "Nope, looks like it'll be all day. Damnit!" She looked genuinely annoyed.

"I'm sure you can go next weekend."

"Yeah, unless something else gets in the way." Michaela got to her feet and dumped her mug in the washing machine. "If it's not the Rift trying to kill us, it's aliens from above, or it's paperwork, or some sort of political crap or something else! Something always keeps one or both of us from being with the kids."

Her eyes flicked to Jack without her conscious awareness, but Jack suddenly got the feeling he and the others were on that list of things getting in the way. The warmth in the kitchen seemed to flee as he set his mug down, not wanting it anymore. Michaela did not notice, silently fuming as she was at the counter. Then she swallowed hard, looked at the ceiling for a moment and seemed to get herself together, letting out a heavy sigh, turning to Jack.

"What would you like for breakfast?"

Jack shrugged, "I'm not very hungry right now."

"You sure?"

Jack nodded. "I'll grab something later."

Michaela shrugged and pulled her dressing gown close again. Jack got to his feet to leave, when the lights in the kitchen flickered several times. While Jack just looked up in confusion, Michaela's head snapped up and she took several steps forward, looking around in alarm.

"What the hell?"

She ran to the monitor on the wall which Jack had only so far seen her use to answer the bell at the gate. But now she was tapping the screen, which obeyed her first three taps and then went dead.

"Shit, shit, shit!" she hissed and ran out the door. Jack followed her as she ran up the stairs, her dressing gown billowing behind her like she was in some sort of 1920's movie and rushed into her bedroom. Jack was inside before he knew what he was doing, and came to a halt. It felt… wrong to be in here without an invitation. That did not seem to bother Michaela as she shook Ianto awake. "Ianto, Ianto wake up. The power's gone out in the house."

Jack watched her thinking she was maybe over reacting. But Ianto was up like a shot… and he was in his underwear. If Jack thought he had looked good before in the suits and waistcoats as an older man, in just his boxers… oh yes!

"What? Are you sure?"

Michaela reached over and flicked the lamp switch next to the bed. Nothing happened. Ianto looked up for all of two seconds, then swore.

"Fuck. Ok, I'll call Torchwood, you round up the kids."

Michaela nodded and ran out of the room. Ianto grabbed a pair of trousers and pulled them on. As he zipped them up, he said,

"Jack?"

"Yup?"

"Quit drooling and go get the others."

"Yup!"

Jack hurried out the door and it was only as he was knocking on Gwen's door that he realised he had jumped to obey Ianto's order. That was new.

He gathered the team up and they followed the kids as Michaela led them downstairs.

"What's going on?" he asked Michaela.

"I don't know, but the house is directly connected to Torchwood's power grid which is separate from the rest of the city's power. The power only goes out if something's really wrong." Michaela passed a groggy Quinn to Leeza who accepted him without protest and Archer held Christoffer tight as he pulled Erin along with him.

"Where are we going?"

"The garage, if we need to leave we'll be able to get everyone out quickly."

The garage was dark, but Michaela pulled out a battery powered lamp from under a table and turned it on. She gave it to Gwen to hold and asked,

"Right, which of you four are the best driver?"

"Me!" said Owen at once, "I can drive as fast as I need to, but unlike Jack I still have a fear of death."

"Then you're our designated driver." Michaela unlocked the mini-bus and Toshi helped her pull the doors open. Michaela tossed the keys to Owen, "Only load up if you have to leave."

Owen nodded, running around to check the driver's seat, making sure it was all familiar and adjusted to his size.

"Mummy, where's daddy?" Taran was white as a sheet and tried to cling to Michaela.

"He's coming leanbh, please don't hold on to me right now." Michaela gently pushed him away as she went to a sealed cupboard and keyed in a numeric code. It opened at once, revealing weapons. Jack watched as she quickly assembled two handguns and set them down, before doing another two. Ianto came running in, now in a t-shirt, and picked up the guns.

"Torchwood's on its way." He put one of the guns in the back of his trousers and the other he picked up and set to ready.

"Everything's good there?"

Ianto nodded, "It's something here, not there."

If it were possible, Michaela looked even more pissed. She was still in her silky night dress and dressing gown, but as she loaded the gun, Jack knew anything that came at her would probably not last.

"Any idea what?" she asked. Ianto shook his head.

"Mum what's going on?" asked Archer anxiously.

Michaela and Ianto looked at each other, but before they could answer, a piercing shriek rolled through the house. At first Jack flinched from the noise itself, but then he realised it was a word.

Or rather a name.

"IANTOOOOOOOO!"

Jack lowered his hands from his ears in time to hear Michaela say,

"That thing is in my house?" to Ianto, who looked partly angry, partly contrite.

"I never thought she would come here." he muttered. Michaela glared at him for a long moment, then strode past him, gun at the ready. "'kaela!" Ianto chased after her and grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "We don't have to kill her."

Michaela looked at him like he was nuts. She did not bother replying to him, only said,

"Kids, I want you to listen to Auntie Gwen and Toshiko and Uncle Owen and Jack. If we give the order, they'll take you out of the house. Leeza, you know the way to Torchwood, so you guide Owen, ok?"

Leeza nodded, not arguing with her mum. Michaela picked up a small comm. device and tossed it to Jack,

"Keep that on, but if you think we're gone too long-"

"IANTOOOOOO!"

"-take our children and go." Michaela finished without missing a beat. Jack, his estimation of this woman rising a little, nodded. "Ianto, let's go."

Ianto looked reluctant but nodded, pulling on the safety of his gun.

"Mummy!" wailed Christoffer as the two left the garage and shut the door behind them. Jack swallowed hard and looked around at all the children, most of whom were white with fear, still in their pyjamas and looking at him and the others for protection. Toshi was stony faced as she broke from the group and went to the weapons cupboard.

"What are you doing?" asked Toshiko, running over to her as she started to assemble a handgun.

"I'm making sure if something comes for us I have a weapon to send them running." Toshi informed her coldly. Toshiko shook her head and said,

"Your parents trusted us to look after you."

"You've been out of the loop for twenty years! I bet you've never used a modern gun, have you? But Torin and Elisa taught me how to use one from the time I was ten."

"Without telling mum or dad." Eoin put in.

"So? At least I'm being useful." Toshi held the gun up, barrel pointing at the floor, ready to use.

"Toshi, mum and dad'll handle it!" Aiden piped up, his voice quivering a little. "Won't they?" he asked, looking at Jack. Jack paused for a moment, then nodded,

"Kid, your parents have beaten the odds. Not many people can claim to have survived twenty four years in Torchwood. I doubt this will be any problem for them."

Aiden nodded, as if Jack had spoken the word of God, "See Toshi! They'll be fine."

"Dad'll take care of it." muttered Leeza, holding Quinn on her hip.

"Not if mum gets there first." said Archer, "Didn't you see how pissed she was?"

"You swore!" yelped Taran, "Not 'pose to swear."

"Taran, not now." Archer pulled Taran to him, as if a tight hug would shut the five year old up.

"Look you lot, just be quiet and let the grownups handle this." said Owen brazenly.

"Yes, please be quiet, we need to keep an ear out for your parents." said Gwen, pressing a finger to her lips. The oldest four glared at her, not appreciating the childish gesture, but remained quiet. Jacque looked around anxiously, tugged on Eoin's sleeve and made frantic signs. Eoin squeezed his shoulder and made signs to him, which seemed to reassure him a little.

Jack gave himself a shake, realising he needed to behave like Ianto would expect him to, and took the gun from Toshi, who looked fit to kick him, but made no noise. The gun felt familiar enough in his hands as he hurried to the door into the kitchen and, making a shushing gesture to the children again, opened the door a centimetre, to hear better. There was no sound in the dark house, no footsteps, no voices, nothing to suggest that anything was happening. Jack had never considered silence a good thing in times like these.

He considered going after the two, but he knew that with so many children, they would need four protectors at least.

Then –

_Bang!_

Several children screamed as the gunshot rang through the house.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

"Mummy!" wailed Christoffer, clinging to Archer who had gone white.

"Dad!" wailed Deva, the loudest noise Jack had heard her make yet. Jacque made a horrible noise that conveyed his panic as he looked around at the others and picked up their reaction. Jack pushed the door open further and held his weapon ready, shifting to block the door as he heard footsteps heading this way.

"Kids!"

Jack relaxed his arms as Michaela and Ianto came running into the kitchen, both covered in what looked like blue poster paint but must have been alien blood. He jumped aside and let the two into the garage just as the lights in the kitchen flickered on.

The kids rushed at their parents but Ianto held up a hand to make them wait until he and Michaela had disassembled the weapons and put them away. As soon as that was done they embraced their children and reassured them that everything was fine.

"What was it? Was it a Weevil?"

"Don't be stupid, a Weevil can't turn off the power. Was it a Slitheen?"

As the kids vied to figure out what their parents had encountered, Michaela took Christoffer from Archer and knelt down in front of them.

"Calm down kids. It was an alien we encountered a few years ago, and we unfortunately had to shoot it."

"It was a bad alien!"

"It was… a dangerous alien." Michaela said diplomatically. Ianto's jaw set but he nodded. Jack watched his expression as Leeza huddled against him and he held her, Deva and Quinn tight. He still had his gun in his hand and since the other two were occupied, he slipped out and made his way upstairs.

The alien was in the hall, lying face down on the floor. It was white, and long, with tendrils of something that might have been hair, might have been tentacles coming from its head. As Jack approached it he did not think the alien looked very dangerous… it seemed rather sad. What had it wanted? Had Ianto and Michaela bothered to try and find out?

"She fell in love with Ianto."

Jack jumped and turned around. Michaela had somehow snuck up behind him, arms across her chest as she walked slowly past Jack and along the alien.

"Her species latches on to a mate and never lets go. She decided Ianto was her mate and she would have him no matter what. We were able to get rid of her without harming her before, Ianto always felt bad about it, like it was his fault –maybe it was, he never told me how she came to this conclusion. But she would come back, stalking him through Torchwood, and since her species generates a magnetic field which interferes with electricity, it really screwed with our systems."

Michaela inhaled deeply and rested her hand on her abdomen, her eyes narrowing,

"She attacked me, tried to… 'get me out of the picture'. I was pregnant with Jacque at the time, I nearly lost him… she's the reason he's deaf, caused by oxygen depletion. I told Ianto if she ever came near our children I would not hesitate to shoot her."

She looked at Jack, her green eyes daring him to condemn her. Jack, however, understood exactly what she was talking about. He also had a distinct impression she was warning _him_ of what she was willing to do to protect her family. Why she felt the need to warn him was a bit baffling… unless she was warning him about how far she would go to keep Ianto.

Jack's back stiffened and he nodded, jaw set. Michaela nodded, turning away.

"I'm going to go change. Torin and Dotty will be here in a minute to clean that up."

She went into her and Ianto's bedroom and Jack stood, rooted to the spot, a cold dread spreading inside him. All those strange looks, all those furtive glances and angry glares when she found them with Ianto and the children…

No clear specific job at Torchwood, no real reason why Ianto would ever have fallen for her… a cold warning to Jack about not getting too close.

Jack's stomach turned as he realised the reason Ianto had been so cheerful about his life, why these kids were so perfect.

They were all pawns, and Michaela was the player.

She was the one behind everything, she had to be.

Jack's hands clenched into fists.

Whatever this game was, he would not let her win.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"Are you sure Jack?" Toshiko's eyes were wide with doubt. Jack nodded.

"Absolutely. She's the one pulling the strings here. She has to be. She's the only one who doesn't act like this world is real, because she knows it isn't."

"And you're not just saying that because you're jealous?" asked Owen snidely. Jack grit his teeth in anger, and tried to look calm. They were gathered in the garden, on the pretence of letting the family have some time together to calm down after the trauma of the morning.

"No. I'm telling you she's the one behind it all."

The more Jack thought about it, the more certain he was becoming.

"Ok, say she is… what does she want?"

"She doesn't want us here." Jack said quickly.

"…then why are we here?"

"Don't you get it? We're not meant to be here, this is some sort of fake world… I think Ianto was the target."

"Ianto?"

Jack nodded.

"You mean… you think she wanted to brainwash Ianto into thinking he's married to her… that they're some sort of power couple, giving him what she thinks he wants?" Gwen raised an eyebrow in dubiousness.

"Exactly. But we must have gotten caught in the wake of the device she used, and she had to improvise with us, so she came up with this lie that we were lost in time. Think about it, she could implant memories of Ianto being alone without us –he had nothing outside of Torchwood –and she comforts him and it turns to love… all very pretty and very Ianto."

"But what about the kids?"

"Projections probably." Jack felt a slight twist in his gut, "Otherwise she might have kidnapped real kids and forced them to believe she's their mother."

"If that's true… we're dealing with someone very dangerous Jack." said Owen, eyes glittering. "What do you think we should do?"

"We need to get her on her own, somewhere where I can interrogate her, find out the truth and break her hold over Ianto."

"If she's controlling it all, that might not be easy. Wouldn't it be better to try and get through to Ianto?" asked Toshiko carefully. Jack shook his head,

"No, he might go and tell her what we know and she'll manipulate the world to get rid of us." Jack was absolutely certain of that.

There was a grim silence as they considered their options. Finally, Gwen said,

"So… you really think this is all fake?"

"Gwen, I'm absolutely sure that the moment we break out of this, you'll have Rhys all over you in relief that you're ok."

It was a dirty trick, but it worked. Gwen nodded, "Ok… but… I don't want to hurt the children."

"The kids are probably innocent of the truth. We just might need to let Michaela think we'll hurt them if she doesn't cooperate. She's determined to keep this world, so threatening it will be the key."

Owen nodded, "If we could only get at the guns, we could just point them at one of the kids and she'd cave."

"Owen!" Gwen looked appalled.

"I wouldn't fucking shoot. But we need to get out of here."

"I could probably open that little armoury they had." said Toshiko quietly, "It's just a simple numeric code."

"Good Toshiko." Jack smiled at her with pride. "Don't worry, we'll do this quick as we can."

"How are we going to manage it?"

"Didn't Ianto say something about letting the kids have the day off tomorrow after the shock of today?"

"I don't know if Michaela agreed with it."

"But maybe if Ianto went out with the older ones and we just had the younger ones to worry about, we could get Michaela on her own and question her."

Jack nodded, "Possible. We need to do this right, so let's take our time."

They nodded and made their way back into the house. Dotty, the freckled woman they had met the day they had arrived, smiled at them cheerfully as she made tea.

"Probably not much of a stress for you lot today, a single love-struck alien running around."

"Well… I wish I could say it was new…" Jack said, finding it easier to play along now he knew where the danger was. Dotty laughed,

"Yeah, Bobby told us all sorts of stories about you Captain. And they always seemed to end with 'Sad to say, but I am not lying.'"

Jack almost asked who Bobby was, but then he remembered, it was the Torchwood nickname for Ianto. A stupid name that made no real sense.

"Tea?" Dotty pointed at the pot.

"Sure." Gwen said quickly.

"I'm good." said Jack, striding across the kitchen. "Ianto with the kids?"

"Uh… I think he's in his office with Torin. Michaela's with the kids. Christoffer's clinging to her like a limpet."

Jack nodded and started up the stairs. He passed two Torchwood operatives who were cleaning away the alien blood from the wood and a scientist running scans over the alien's body, already half in a body bag. He kept walking up to Ianto's office and knocked sharply on the door.

"Open!"

Jack pushed the door open and found Ianto talking to Torin at his desk. Ianto gave him a quick smile of greeting,

"Jack."

"I just… wanted to check in… See if there was a way she was able to get in."

He hadn't, but it sounded ok. Torin gave him a disapproving look, but Ianto said,

"One of the kids left a bathroom window open, she was able to get in that way. Torin, if there's nothing else, I'd like a word with Jack."

Torin nodded, saluted and walked out of the room. Jack shut the door behind him as Ianto chuckled, "He's been working for me for seventeen years, you'd think he'd give up the military attitude."

"Some things just can't be unlearnt." said Jack quietly, finding himself looking straight at Ianto. Ianto's eyes flickered and he shrugged,

"All things can be learned and unlearnt. Depends on if you're willing to work for it."

Jack shrugged and stepped further into the room. "So…" he started, smirking, "That alien was in love with you?"

Ianto sighed, mouth turning down. "Yeah… something along those lines."

"Well, can you blame her?" Jack shrugged, "Hard not to."

Ianto looked at him levelly, "You tried pretty hard."

Jack's smile faltered. Ianto got to his feet and stuffed his hands in his pockets, walking around the desk to lean back against it.

"Listen Jack… I wanted to thank you for looking after the kids this morning. I really appreciate it."

Jack nodded, "Of course, although I should probably warn you Toshi tried to take matters into her own hands."

"One of the reasons we have a code on the door. I supervised Torin and Elisa training her, but it made her happier thinking Michaela and I knew nothing."

"Ah… I see." Jack felt a smile pulling his lips.

"Every child needs a particular way of being managed. Toshi needs to be given her space, it means she chooses to come to us when she wants to feel looked after. Christoffer on the other hand, needs to be reassured constantly that we're there, even if he can't see us. That… needs work."

"He's a clingy kid."

Ianto shrugged, "Just the way of some kids. At least Christoffer is vocal, Deva inherited my silence. I try to make sure she isn't missed in the chaos of the others, otherwise she just sits in the corner, drawing or whatever."

Jack nodded, he had seen a lot of Ianto in Deva, which was why he was leaning to the belief she and the other children were projections, created to keep Ianto enmeshed in this world.

"Michaela was pretty pissed that the alien got in."

"I was pretty pissed." Ianto said quickly.

"Not as pissed as her."

"Well… she never forgave what happened to her and Jacque."

"And you did?" Jack found that very hard to believe.

"No, I never forgave that." said Ianto quietly. "But… she was lost… she needed a friend. I tried to be that, and it backfired. So it was my fault partially. I had always hoped I would be able to deal with it better the next time… she was one of the first aliens I dealt with as head of Torchwood, I'd only just asked Michaela to marry me. And it just got out of hand."

Ianto smiled faintly at Jack. "I wanted to handle the alien the way you would have wanted me to. But it… didn't work out."

Jack nodded. "That happens."

Ianto nodded, running a hand over his face and letting out a heavy breath. "I've never been able to… match your method. And to be honest, there were times I either did not want to, or did not need to. I had to figure my own path… with Michaela."

"You're the one running the show." said Jack, shrugging. Ianto shook his head,

"No… no, I'm only half of it. She's the other half. I am the face, but she's the heart."

Jack felt an itch to roll his eyes at such a stupid notion. Ianto, brainwashed or under control as he was, could obviously still read him because he snapped,

"You think I'm full of shit? How many times did you call Gwen the heart of the team? Like I had none, like Toshiko and Owen had none. But when I call my wife the heart of the organisation, I mean she's like the mother of it. She looks after the personnel, she's in charge of displaced people, but at least she doesn't scream and yell and stamp her foot like Gwen used to."

"Yeah, instead she gets you to make speeches to the cameras and tell the world aliens are trying to kill them!" Jack regretted opening his mouth as soon as he spoke.

"That was the Doctor's fault! And it was me, the Prime Minister, UNIT, Torchwood's senior staff, and, yes, Michaela, who decided to reveal Torchwood to the world, to let people know we've been protecting them for years."

"That's not Torchwood!"

"No! That's not your Torchwood." Ianto snarled, "But guess what Jack, Torchwood is mine now, mine, and Michaela's, and Torin's and Elisa's, Nabil's and Meiriona's and Philipp's!"

"I don't know who any of those people are!"

"I know! That's my point."

Jack glared at him. "If you were so eager to replace us all, you must have been relieved when we were stolen by the Rift."

Ianto went white, his eyes bugged a little, but otherwise he gave no reaction. He just stared at Jack for a while, then turned away from him, leaning on his desk.

"Get out of my office Jack." he whispered. Jack stood where he was for a moment, just staring at Ianto, remembering how often he had admired that very stance over his own desk. Ianto's arms were trembling, as if he could barely hold himself up. "I said out!" he spat.

Jack swallowed and backed up to the door, then opened the door and walked out. The scientist and operatives were watching him openly, warily, as he strode past them into his bedroom. He shut the door and let out a heavy breath. That had not gone how he had hoped.

* * *

><p>Gwen could not sleep, she kept thinking about Rhys, about Ianto, about Jack, about how unfair this all was, and how much she wished this world wasn't real. It made believing Jack's assertions about this being a lie and Michaela being the enemy so much easier. But still… Gwen worried. What if Jack was wrong? What if they acted and hurt someone, only to realise things were real? What then?<p>

Getting to her feet, Gwen pulled on a thick, warm dressing gown and decided to get some warm milk. She tip toed down the hall, knowing that Ianto and Michaela would probably hear her if she didn't. Parents had that uncanny ability to hear the slightest sound. She was half way down the hall when she saw a faint light coming from Ianto and Michaela's bedroom. They were still up at 2am? And the door was open? Gwen grimaced. If one of them heard her, they might try to talk to her and she wanted to avoid that at all costs.

A soft voice filtered through the door and Gwen found herself pausing to listen. Maybe she would be able to gather evidence for Jack if she eavesdropped.

"-need to push them further. Bring them to Torchwood, have them run errands, just get them out of this house." Michaela's voice was insistent, irritated.

"I'm not throwing them out!" Ianto hissed back.

"I'm not asking you to! Don't be so dramatic."

"Then what? Why do you keep badgering me to get them out of here?"

"Because they need to accept this is their life now and the longer they stay here, the harder their adjustment will be."

They were talking about the team. Michaela wanted them out? It certainly lent itself to the idea she didn't want them around… but it did not mean she was some evil mastermind. She could just be a needy wife.

"It's been a week 'kaela!"

"And normally by now displaced people are set up with their own home, we have at least some semblance of a job or a hobby set up for them to help them deal. That is how we do it, that is how I do it."

"This is different!"

"Not in the grand scheme of it. They are displaced, they need to adjust, and you are not helping them by coddling them."

Gwen scowled, Ianto was not coddling them! He was being a good friend.

"These are my friends!" hissed Ianto. There was a long silence. Then Gwen heard rustling and she peered through the crack in the door, spying Ianto, in his underwear which made her blush, sitting on the end of his big, fancy bed. Michaela was wearing some very sexy negligée of deep blue, and had crawled on the bed to kneel behind Ianto, her arms going around his shoulders, kissing his neck. She murmured something to him, but Gwen could not hear it. Ianto dropped his head,

"I know… but still…"

Michaela caressed his bare skin, still murmuring in his ear and Gwen was uncomfortably reminded of a temptress, whispering seductions and evil in Ianto's ear.

"They're my friends…" Ianto sighed, leaning into her. "Please…" His voice softened too much for Gwen to hear, but Michaela used her hands to turn him to face her. She cupped his face and kissed him. Gwen frowned. If Jack was right… then Ianto kissing Michaela was wrong.

Michaela broke the kiss, sighing something, and all Gwen could catch was,

"… you're mine. Forever…"

Ianto nodded. Gwen wished she could see his face. She knew she could be misreading everything, but it didn't sound right at all.

Ianto and Michaela were kissing again, and it was getting more heated, Ianto pulling her into his arms, kissing her tenderly. Gwen shifted and moved away, not wanting to see anymore. She felt a chill go down her back. If Jack was right and Michaela had manipulated everything, including Ianto's feelings… then by sleeping with him… that was rape.

Gwen felt sick. She wanted to go into the bedroom and stop it… but what then? It still wasn't definite, was it? So she could very easily just be storming in and interrupting a real married couple's most private moment. Not stopping a rape was infinitely worse… but there was a good chance that if Jack was right, Ianto would be angry and indignant and Michaela would try to get rid of them quicker. So… what could she do? Could she maybe figure out some way of distracting them both, without arousing suspicion?

Then she hit upon an idea.

She quickly tiptoed back to her bedroom, grabbed the door, then took a deep breath and threw it open with a bang, shouting as she did,

"Rhys! Rhys! Where are you?"

She tripped herself up and staggered down the hall, shouting for Rhys again. She was more than halfway down the hall before Ianto came running out the door. He grabbed her and held her still and called her name,

"Gwen! Gwen, calm down."

Gwen put up a token struggle, then gave a start like she had just awoken, looking around in shock before finally looking at him.

"Ianto? What am I doing out here?"

Ianto smiled at her affectionately and brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. "I think you were sleep… shouting cariad."

"Oh? Sorry, did I wake you?"

"It's ok." Ianto reassured her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I, uh…" Gwen faltered, not sure what she should actually say. She glanced up and spotted Michaela standing in the doorway of her bedroom. She looked very put out, but there was concern on her face too. Gwen had no idea if it was genuine or not, but she found herself pressing closer to Ianto as Jack, Toshiko and Owen came up to them from behind.

"What's going on?"

"Gwen was sleep walking." said Ianto gently, petting Gwen's hair like she was a child.

"I had a dream I couldn't find Rhys." she said quickly, "Next thing I knew I was here in the hall."

"C'mon, let's get you back to bed." said Ianto, still stroking her hair. Despite herself, Gwen found herself cuddling close to him and inhaling his scent. It made her feel safe and secure, and when Jack and the others gathered around them, it felt good, like things were as they ought to be.

"Mummy!" called a frightened voice from above.

"Great!" hissed Michaela, pulling her dressing gown around her and storming past them to go upstairs. "Coming Christoffer!"

"What's going on?" called Archer in alarm.

"It's ok kids!" Ianto called, "Go back to bed. Gwen just had a nightmare."

Gwen flushed at being spoken about like she was a child with the actual children.

"Does she want my teddy bear?" called Guinevere, "I've loads!"

Ianto chuckled and looked at Gwen, "Would you?"

"I'm ok, thanks sweetheart!" Gwen called, smiling faintly.

"Ok!" Guinevere called back.

"Everyone back to bed now!" barked Michaela from above. The kids could all be heard scrambling back to bed. Ianto sighed and said,

"C'mon Gwen."

They all went into her bedroom and she sat down on the bed. Ianto sat next to her and squeezed her hand.

"Sorry, I think I got you in trouble."

"It's ok. She's just stressed because of today and worrying the kids will need extra looking after because of this."

Gwen nodded, thinking to herself that a mum was meant to give her kids as much attention as they needed.

"I'm ok now… just a bad dream." she said quickly. "You can all go back to bed."

"Are you sure?" asked Ianto.

She nodded, certain her dramatics had put a dampener on the mood for Ianto at least.

"I'll stay with her." said Jack, "You should sleep, I'm sure you'll be busy tomorrow." His tone indicated whatever he had argued about with Ianto was still annoying him. Ianto glanced at him, then nodded and got to his feet.

"Remember, you know where I am."

They all nodded and he left them. They waited a few moments, then Jack asked wryly,

"Did you really have a nightmare?"

Gwen flushed, "I didn't know what else to do?"

"What do you mean?" asked Toshiko.

"I… erm, I noticed Ianto and Michaela seemed to be…"

"Getting in the mood?" asked Jack. At Gwen's look, he shrugged, "I could smell it on them."

"Lovely." Owen wrinkled his nose.

"Anyway!" Gwen said quickly, "I started thinking that if this is all fake, and Ianto's been lied to or brainwashed, then he can't give consent… if she sleeps with him it's rape. I didn't want her to think we suspected her, so I thought I could ruin the moment."

"A fine job you did too." said Jack, looking proud of her. Gwen flushed with pleasure. She loved it when Jack was proud of her, even now. "Think you can sleep now?"

"Yeah, I think so, thanks."

"On that note, I'm going to bed." said Owen, "Still… nice call Gwen."

Gwen smiled at him and Toshiko gave her a grateful look as they made their way back to their own rooms. Gwen curled up on her bed and sighed, finally able to sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The next day the tension was so thick in the house it made Jack's skin crawl. It appeared mummy and daddy were not speaking and that was upsetting the children. It suited Jack just fine, because it meant no one was paying him and the others much mind. So Jack had Toshiko hacking into the Torchwood Main Frame, hoping she would be able to find some answers there. Owen had snidely asked if he was looking for the Matrix, which Jack didn't get, but shrugged off

Ianto was watching the News in the sitting room, while Michaela had taken some of the children horse riding. Quinn, having given his piglet Olly a thorough bath, was now playing with him in a special pen in the sitting room, designed so the animals did not escape. The piglet was small enough to sit in Jack's had, apparently he was of the miniature breed –Jack had never even heard of them, but apparently they had been around since before he had been taken by the Rift.

Jack took a moment to watch the News, out of sheer curiosity, from the door of the sitting room. The news reader said,

"The head of DADA is once again demanding that Torchwood Heads Ianto Jones and Michaela Murphy-Jones release more information to the public regarding their dealings with alien species."

Ianto sighed as an older man appeared on the screen and said,

"The British people have a right to know just what is being offered to these aliens. For all we know, Torchwood has been promising them all sorts of things they have no right to promise. Moreover, we have a right to know just what they spend their funds on. Our taxes are being pumped into that organisation and we have no idea just what sort of experiments they are running."

"Because you don't want to know! You just want to make out we're the bad guys for your own ego." snapped Ianto irritably. Quinn looked up in alarm, then went back to cuddling Olly.

"DADA?" asked Jack, raising an eyebrow.

"Defence Against Dangerous Aliens." Ianto sighed, "They sprang up after Torchwood went public. Lots of people found the idea that one organisation had been handling all alien interactions very disturbing. Doesn't matter that U.N.I.T has been in on it for decades, Torchwood was there first, and we're British, the rest of the world don't like that."

"And the fact that you're Welsh and Michaela's Irish doesn't help?"

"Nope. Besides, if it was in America, I wouldn't exactly feel endeared either. It's not pleasant to think another country is doing God knows what with something as big and terrifying as aliens without your ability to throw on the brakes. That's why we set up new outposts everywhere."

"How many?"

"23. Each is self-sufficient, and employs mostly people from their own nation, but we have a policy of easy-flow. That means we try and get the different outposts to intermingle by having each employee –or at least the higher up ones –spend time in at least one other outpost or here in Cardiff, so that they at least feel like they're fully involved. It definitely helped, a lot of the global outcry started to ease once we did it. It hasn't gone away fully, and I wouldn't want it to, but at least people are… trying to be reasonable given how tense this all is."

"I thought you said there were wars going on because of this."

"There are, but the world doesn't stop for small wars between small nations, or even big wars between big nations. The rest of us have to keep going."

"Daddy, I'm hungry!" said Quinn. He was holding Olly under the front legs and the piglet looked uncomfortable, letting out small squeals of unhappiness, back legs kicking frantically.

"Quinn, put Olly down! You're hurting him." Ianto got to his feet and took the piglet from Quinn, who let out a wail of upset. "I've told you before Quinn, you can't carry him around like that. He has a leash if you want to bring him somewhere, otherwise hooves stay on the floor."

Quinn started to cry and reached out, for the pig or for Ianto it was hard to tell. Ianto sighed and set the piglet in the pen, and picked Quinn up.

"Now no crying mab, you just need to remember not to pick him up like that and it'll be ok. You don't want to hurt Olly, do you?"

Quinn shook his head.

"Then you can't pick him up. Ok?"

Quinn nodded, hiccupping and wrapping his arms around his daddy, looking for comfort. Ianto rubbed his back and said,

"Let's get some food, the others will be back soon. We'll make them a nice big lunch, yeah?"

Jack moved aside to let Ianto past first, then followed him into the kitchen. Leeza was there going through the fridge.

"Hey cariad." Ianto said, passing his hand over her hair as he brought Quinn to the sink. "You didn't go horse riding with your mum?"

"Nope." Leeza said petulantly. Ianto frowned at her as he pulled a set of steps to the sink so Quinn could wash his hands after handling the pig.

"Why not?"

"Just didn't want to."

"Your mum would have liked it if you went with her. Been a while since you two did anything together."

"So?"

"So, it would probably make her happy if her eldest daughter spent some time with her."

"She's made enough daughters to keep herself happy." Leeza sneered. Jack actually felt himself recoil slightly at the nasty comment. Real world or not, that was cold.

"Leeza!" snapped Ianto, "You will not talk about your mother like that!"

"I'm seventeen! I can talk however I want." Leeza shouted. Quinn, wiggling his fingers under the warm water, watched her in alarm.

"No you can't Leeza. Trust me, seventeen is no age at all." said Ianto, "Just why are you so rude to your mum?"

"None of your business dad!"

Ianto sighed and helped Quinn squeeze some soap onto his hands. "Of course it's my business, you're my daughter and she's my wife. I want to understand what's wrong between you two."

"Well don't." Leeza snapped, "'s far as I'm concerned, mum's a pathetic cow, and you could have done better than her!"

Jack's eyes widened as there was a gasp, and the next thing he knew, Archer was shouting at Leeza, having just come in with his mother in time to hear that last statement.

"Who the fuck do you think you are? Who do you think you are to say that?"

"Just piss off Archer, you're as pathetic as mum!"

"That's it!" Ianto snapped, "Archer, help Quinn dry his hands! Leeza, go up to your room and stay there! Now!"

Jack did not think he had ever seen him so angry. After a tense moment, Archer backed away from Leeza and went to Quinn. Leeza glared at her dad, then threw her mum a contemptuous look, before storming out of the kitchen. Jack glanced at Michaela, wondering how she would take this sudden change to her 'perfect world'. She was pale, as if all the blood had fled her face, her face pinched and pained. Devastated was the word for it.

Jack tried to hide his sense of satisfaction under a frown, but Michaela looked at him and by the flash of her eyes, she had seen it. Ianto was approaching her, reaching out slowly.

"'kaela…"

She backed away, ducking her head, "I… I need to make sure the kids have unsaddled the horses right."

"But-"

Michaela walked out before Ianto could stop her. There was a horrible silence in the kitchen as Ianto pushed his hair back and let out a heavy breath.

"Leeza needs to be taught a lesson." muttered Archer.

"One which I and your mum will think of. You leave her be." said Ianto shortly.

"But dad, how can you let-"

"I'm not letting anything happen. I will deal with this. Now let's get lunch made, and you're all going to school tomorrow."

Archer looked outraged, his pale cheeks flushed with colour, and he looked so like his father during that night when the Cyberwoman had been loose, that Jack had to look away and remind himself he was just an illusion.

"Fucking Leeza!" Archer growled, but his ire failed him when Ianto, eyes blazing bright blue, looked at him and he quailed. "Sorry dad."

Jack watched the two move in silence to prepare food, then quietly slipped out of the room to report to the others.

* * *

><p>Michaela did not turn up for dinner, and the house keepers seemed to blame Jack and the others by the looks they were giving them. Leeza was still confined to her room, and the other children knew something had happened, but not what. But none of them seemed overly surprised, they were used to Leeza and their mother's tense relationship.<p>

Ianto said little as he ate, looking lost in thought, a frown on his face. His mobile rang six times, all different ringtones, and he rejected all the calls.

As the food was finished off, Guinevere spoke carefully,

"Daddy?"

Ianto lifted his head wearily, "Yes dywysoges?"

"Will Elisa come see us soon? We haven't seen her in ages."

Ianto shrugged, "I don't know cariad. She's very busy right now, because me and mum have been working here."

"Yeah, but Uncle Jack, Uncle Owen, Auntie Gwen and Auntie Tosh are going to move out soon, aren't they? Then you won't have to look after them." Erin said with certainty. "You'll let them go free, like I did with my pigeon."

Jack stared at the girl and realised they were running out of time to get Michaela alone and interrogate her. She was making moves to get rid of them already.

That was something Jack would just not allow.

* * *

><p>"We need to move now." he told the team quietly in his bedroom later. The children were all in bed, and Ianto was in his office.<p>

"What do we do?"

"Toshiko, can you get that ammunitions case open?"

Toshiko nodded with complete certainty. "I've been playing with the computer tablet they gave me. I can use it to open the case."

"Good. Michaela is sleeping in Christoffer's room, I think we can use that to our advantage."

"How?"

"We get her out of the room long enough for Owen to go in and hold a gun on Christoffer-"

"Jesus fuck Jack!" Owen looked appalled, "You can't be serious."

"You're just going to pick him up and let her see the gun, I'll do the rest."

"And what then? Even if she agrees to come with us, what then?"

"I've already got the keys to Michaela's car, and I disabled the tracker in it. There's a place I know of that I'm certain Ianto never knew about, we take her there and get her to let us free."

"Then what?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you going to kill her, or are you going to hand her over to UNIT for what she did?" asked Toshiko quietly. "Once Ianto realises what she did to him, he shouldn't have to see her every day in the cells."

"… depends on why she did it. A pathetic need to get Ianto to love her, she lives. She wanted to bring everything down, I'll put a bullet between her eyes." As a plan formed in his mind, Jack became absolutely certain of his conviction. He was getting his team out of here.

"What if Ianto hears us? What if she screams?"

"She makes a sound, you shoot Christoffer."

Owen looked like he wanted to be sick, "He's three Jack!"

"So he won't know what's going on… if he's real. Remember, he's probably just an illusion. Everything that isn't us, Ianto and her is probably fake. We need to remember that."

None of the others looked very sure of this, but they trusted Jack enough to follow his orders. Jack waited for an hour, to let everyone sink into a proper sleep, before he let the team start moving. They moved silently through the house, down to the garage. Gwen unlocked the Mercedes and cleared out the back of children's booster seats, while Toshiko quickly and easily unlocked the ammunitions case.

The team quickly assembled the guns, each taking two, despite Gwen wondering who they would use them on. Jack left Toshiko and Gwen in the garage, and took Owen with him up to Christoffer's bedroom. Despite himself Jack could still remember Quinn taking them on a tour of the house and loudly banging on each door as he announced it. They paused at the slightly open door, and Jack could hear the sound of two people breathing in their sleep, Michaela's breaths being longer and deeper than Christoffer's.

He gestured Owen to hide in the shadows of the house, then moved to pick up a vase, which he then let drop heavily on the carpeted stairs, rolling down to the foot. The thump was loud enough to wake a parent, but Ianto's office was on the other side of the house. He wouldn't hear anything.

"Taran?" called Michaela blearily from Christoffer's bedroom. Jack hid himself just in time for her to come wandering out, looking around in the darkness. She moved to the stairs and eyed the vase in confusion as Owen ducked into the bedroom. Jack noticed, even in the dark, that she wasn't wearing the slinky night dresses of before, now she was in cotton pyjamas, a long sleeved white shirt fairly bright in the moonlight shining in.

Christoffer let out a whimper, probably as Owen picked him up. Michaela turned back, as if sensing something was wrong and Jack pounced. He grabbed her face, muffling her shriek of surprise, and pressed the gun into her back as he pulled her against him. Michaela struggled, grabbing at his arm, but Jack hissed,

"Make another sound, or struggle again, and you'll regret it."

At that moment Owen emerged, holding Christoffer in one arm, and the gun visible in the moonlight resting at his stomach. Michaela let out a horrified noise and Owen lifted the gun as Jack spat,

"I said quiet!"

Michaela went ridged, trembling in Jack's grip, staring at her son in terror. Jack let her face go and started walking her forwards, ordering her to put her hands on her head as she went. She complied, but kept looking behind her to check on Christoffer, who was whimpering in concern.

"Mummy?"

Michaela opened her mouth to reassure him but Jack, with a flash of fury, hit her with the butt of his gun in the head without thinking. Her legs buckled and she crashed down the stairs, tumbling down until she reached the bottom. She lay in a heap on the floor and did not move.

"MUMMY!" howled Christoffer.

"Shit Jack they'll have heard that." said Owen. Jack nodded, leaping down the stairs and grabbing Michaela's prone body, he hauled her over his shoulders and ran down the stairs with her. Owen left the screaming Christoffer in his bedroom and barrelled down after Jack, just as Ianto called,

"What's going on?" from somewhere in the house.

Toshiko and Gwen stared as Jack and Owen threw themselves into the back seat of the car, forcing Michaela between them and slamming the door.

"Go!" barked Jack, his heart racing as Gwen slammed her foot on the gas and the car leapt forward, flying under the half open garage door and skidding in a half circle down the driveway and out onto the road, turning left at Jack's order. Owen meanwhile was making sure their prisoner was actually still alive.

"Looks like she's just out." he said after a minute. "She'll have a hell of a headache though."

"Good." Jack said venomously. He manhandled Michaela into a sitting position and wrapped her hair around his free hand to keep her somewhat restrained. Owen used the middle seatbelt to pin her arms down in case she thrashed when she woke up.

"I heard Christoffer, did you hurt him?" demanded Gwen.

"He hasn't a scratch on him." snapped Owen. Michaela twitched and then let out a quiet noise of pain as she started to come around. She scrunched up her face and her head fell back as she groaned. Her hands jerked to touch her head, but the seatbelt held her down. It was enough to make her come to much faster.

"What the-"

Her eyes flew open and Jack and Owen held her down as she flailed, looking around in a panic.

"Sit still." Jack ordered, taking the safety off the gun and pressing it against her ribs. Michaela froze and looked at him, eyes huge.

"Jack? What the –what are you doing?"

"We know you're the one behind all this, and you're gonna undo it, one way or the other." Jack dug the gun into her ribs a little, making her flinch as she stared at him.

"Behind what? What are you talking about?"

"We know this world isn't real. We know you've been pulling the strings." snarled Owen with more conviction than he had had half an hour ago.

"We know what you've been doing to Ianto." Gwen spat, not taking her eyes off the road.

Michaela looked from one of them to the other, and shook her head, looking frightened, "This world is real. It's not fake. What strings?"

Jack gave her hair a sharp pull and she cried out, head snapping back with his pull. "Listen, you can either come clean now, or you can do it after I've check to see if I'm rusty after so many years of not being able to get a good interrogation going."

"Jesus Christ Jack, there's nothing to come clean about!"

The fear in her eyes was genuine, so they were getting somewhere. Jack reached out and wrapped his fingers around her jaw, forcing her to look straight at him.

"I know you're behind this bullshit. Us being stuck twenty years in the future, you and Ianto married, the 15 adorable children, I can't believe I even considered buying it."

Michaela's eyes narrowed, and she said softly, "You made Owen hold a gun to my baby… you threatened to shoot him…"

"Wouldn't have mattered if we'd put a bullet through his brain, he's not real." said Jack.

Any colour that had been left in Michaela's face fled and she looked horrified, disgusted, terrified. The next thing Jack knew the heel of her hand slammed into his nose.

"You fucking bastard!" she screamed, "Don't you touch my children!"

"Fuck!" Owen grabbed at her arms and held her down as she lashed out at Jack.

"You're out of your mind! You egotistical, self-righteous prick! Why did you have to come back?"

Jack wiped under his nose, feeling blood smear on his hand, and then he backhanded her, earning a yelp of pain and the satisfaction of her falling quiet.

"You ok Jack?" Gwen asked, her voice shaky as she drove.

"Yeah." Jack straightened his nose with his fingers and winced as it healed back into shape. "Take the next right and keep going."

They were heading out towards the Beacons now. Jack looked at Michaela, but she was staying quiet, her head bowed, hair falling over her face. He decided that he would wait until they got where they were going, let her stew. The car was no place for what he had planned for her.

He tried not to think about how he was actually looking forward to it.


End file.
